A Past Threat
by jon3s115
Summary: Four years after the defeat of the Yuthan leader Prometheus, Kevin Michelson had began to live his life once more. Marrying his close friend, Rose, Kevin learned to live once more and let his gruesome past slide away from him. As he was returning to his normal self, his worst fear had returned... something he thought was long gone... something that scarred him. Rated T
1. Memories

_And here it is, the first chapter of the first book to continue the adventures of Kevin Michelson and the Star Fox team. I truly hope you all enjoy it. I am glad to be back and writing once more!_

**Memories**

They keep coming for me- every night it happens! My eyes close and all I see is death and despair, nothing else; no peace, no tranquility, no sanctuary, nothing! I'm haunted by my past and it has been such a way for so long- 4 years, 4 years after the last war I was in. I don't know when it could stop or even if it will, all I know is that I suffer from it night to night.

These nightmares, or I should say night terrors as they wake me up regardless of its severity, are all of my past, when I was a ruthless fighter bent on keeping order and keeping those I love safe. Anyone who had the ability to be a protector would take such a responsibility, especially when those you love are in jeopardy. Seven years ago I was like this and even though I was young at 16 years old I thought that I could handle all that would happen afterwards- the consequences of being who I was; a protector.

I wasn't an ordinary protector, in fact I wasn't a normal one either. No one of my kind had heard of a simple mercenary group taking action and single handedly winning wars and out thinking an entire army. I wasn't normal, and to the team, I physically wasn't normal- a different race, species, existence, and even a different mind set.

Throughout the years of fighting I had with the team, I slowly lost the innocence of my childhood. The day I was asked to become the protector, I knew that I would have to do things I wouldn't be comfortable with, and it took a few months later for me to do. The first time I took the life of someone I lost all of my innocence. The one thing I was raised to fear and hate I had done, the one thing that I vowed never to do I had done, the one thing that I was told was evil… I had done.

When I started on the team, I never thought of what could become of me. After the first kill I had done, I was already on a streak. It was the first mission I had been apart of and I had done exceptionally well, for a pilot. As a killer? No choice was given to me. I was thrown out against those who wanted me dead, and so the mind of my childhood and hormone controlled emotions acted in self defense. Later as I understood the situation and the true nature of what was happening did I lose my innocence, when I truly decided that killing and fighting was the only way of doing what I was put up to do- as a protector.

But at such a young age, my mind was prone to immediate and vigorous changes. Especially when I suffered a major loss. When hundreds of my own kind died right in front of me, fighting for our cause and fighting to stay alive. Such an event tore through me and through my soul, so much that I was almost lost- lost in a world of death. I didn't lose all of my sanity, I only went through a shift of my morals. After that dreadful day, I decided to kill anything that opposes me or shows a great threat to those I swear to protect. I may sound like a ruthless killer, but I'm not.

So much longer afterwards did I truly change. By the time I was 18, I had lost any child within me and was a sensible man that knew right from wrong, good from bad, and evil from heroism. My comrades even thought so of me as well. My close friend, my leader, was proud of who I had become; I was no longer that 16 year old he found on Earth, I was now a true Hero. The one that helped me through my changing, the one that could literally tap into my mind and read my thoughts, became my closest friend and ally. My leader was close to me, and so was our technician and ace pilot- we were all like a big family of pilots fighting to be the protectors of what we love.

It may all sound like a luxurious lifestyle, but I found it to be hell. Hell is what my life is and has been- the wars I have fought and the mental torture I went through during those. Nothing was worse than when I was physically tortured, forced to fight against those I love, my own team and my own kind. Nothing compares to that absolute hell hole I endured, and nothing compares to the villain responsible for it, a villain so powerful and with abilities unimaginable. His name will always be engraved on my mind, always reminding me of that war that wasn't even supposed to be possible. Going through all of it was hell and it changed me so very much. I became something more than a man, I became one that could withstand anything, I became one that saw it all and everything worse than anything else.

They keep me up every night. Every damn night I'm haunted by those I have failed and by those who sacrificed themselves to keep me alive. But in the end of it all, I'll look back and say "Yeah, countless died, but it was all for a good cause. And those who sacrificed themselves are in a better place now.".

_**To Be Continued?**_

What do you guys think? What do you think this is? Do you want to see more? I hope you do because the plot I have for this is a thriller and the general idea is something.

**PLEASE go to my profile as I have written something that will explain something rather important! **


	2. Help

_And so begins the adventure of someone who has suffered in the past. I shouldn't keep you waiting so let's get to work. _

**Help**

The darkness was all around me. The pain of everything that was my past and the pain of what I had done. I couldn't escape it and I only felt weaker as I stood in its presence. I was frightened and I couldn't do anything about it. What was I supposed to do when you are in complete darkness with the voices of those you've lost in your head and the memories of your most gruesome past haunting you. Voices all around me, telling me I was guilty for all that had happened, telling me that every death was my fault, telling me that every single fucking action I took was one for the worst. I screamed loudly as the voices continued to pound through my head. I couldn't run anywhere, there was pitch black darkness all around me and no where to hide from this.

I awoke with cold sweat all over me. I was panting deeply as I realized that the darkness was just another night terror. They were getting so out of hand that I felt as though the memories were fresh on my mind, like when I lost the entire squad of 100 fighters in a matter of seconds. That day haunts me even today with no relation to the night terrors. The sight and experience was so much and I had never seen so much death- innocent death- happen at once.

I looked over and noticed Rose was not in the bed.

"Kevin?" I heard a voice come from the other side of my door.

The door slowly opened and revealed a blue vixen wearing a silver nightgown. She had the face of terror and appeared to be extremely worried.

"Kevin is everything alright?" She asked me as she walked in and sat on the edge of my bed.

I sat up more and dug my face into my hands embarrassingly. I didn't mean to wake her with my emotions and dreams, then again I never intend it and everytime I suffer from a terror she is the one that answers to my mind's call for help. She shouldn't have to put up with this again, she already helped me with this when they were haunting me before.

I felt a tear roll down my face, "4 years… 4… fucking... years pass and they come back…" I said chokingly.

She lowered her head, "It's okay Kevin… you can get through this..."

"Krystal" I said as I raised my head from my hands, "Do… do you ever think… maybe I shouldn't have come along? Maybe only being here is making things worse for me?"

The blue vixen shook her head, "Never have I thought that. Since the first day I saw you I knew you would be destined for good and that you would be a great friend."

I looked over at her, tears still rolling down my cheek, "Good? I did _good _but no _good _came out of it. After Wolf, I had these terrors about my mother being killed and the safety of my home." I said, "After Prometheus, I had these terrors about my life." I shook my head, "And now... " I dug my head back into my hands with pure agony, "now I can't hide from them…"

Krystal put her hand on my shoulder, "Listen to me," she said softly, "We've dealt with this before, we'll do it again." She said reassuringly, "I've helped you with this once, and if I have to keep doing so to end your suffering then so be it."

I slowly looked back up at the vixen and spoke no words.

"I promise" she finished.

The words of reassurance were pleasing to my ears. Krystal was a powerful woman and knew what she was doing, so when she promised something to me that would help with a problem like this I knew I could trust her fully.

A small smile cracked on my face, "Thanks…"

She then leaned in and hugged me, "Don't worry, we'll figure this out."

I let go of her and threw off the covers from my bed. I looked over at my clock and saw that it was actually 6:30 a.m, about the time I woke up normally.

"I might as well get ready then," I said to Krystal as she stood back up. I reached for a new gadget that Slippy has created, a new communicator. It was a small device that attached to the forearm, right where your elbow starts. It would project the communicator and provide full functionality, rather than having the bulky device around your entire forearm. I attached the small device and raised my arm so that the projection would appear, "Did you hear about Pepper? Or at least did Fox tell you?"

Krystal shook her head, "No he didn't tell me but I did know of what is happening."

I smiled, "Yeah, some new jobs coming in, or at least that's what I was told."

Krystal nodded, "It is about time we received some work. It's been too long."

It had been a painful five months since Star Fox was given a job. All of us were running out of the things to do. I originally thought that being off duty would be nice and relaxing, it was for the first month but after that things started to get rather boring and little dull. Falco and I even adopted a new hobby to pass time; gaming. The two of us had gotten involved in video games and even went to a tournament for one of our favorite games; Call for Action: Defense Force. Surprisingly we did well but didn't win the contest itself. One could say my life seems good, but with these things in my head, it was a living hell.

(A/N: I'm so sorry…)

The words of Krystal echoed in my head. I nodded repeatedly, "Yeah…" I looked off to the corner as Krystal exited my room, "... way too long."

The words continued to echo in my head. It's been so long since we had our last assignment from General Pepper, and that job wasn't even a very satisfying one. But it wasn't that that made those words send a shiver down my spine, it the fact that I hadn't had memories of my past in so long, especially memories of suffering and death. It puzzled my mind and pained me to even ponder why they have returned and why they are have become so intense.

I had joined Star Fox when I was 16. Fox crash landed in my backyard and I was able to save his life and nurse him back to health. His injuries weren't intense and he was able to get back to the team by the time they had arrived, which at that moment I was offered to go along. I thought it would be beyond amazing to be with the Star Fox team and go places no one else had gone. I knew what I was getting into, but I didn't know what would come out of it. Now I am haunted by images of the past and the sacrifices I made.

Rose, my wife of 5 years, did not live with the rest of the team. She felt that living on her own was best since she would continue work with Beltino and Space Dynamics, serving her spot on Star Fox from the comfort of her lab. She wasn't a fighter by any means and preferred to stay away from the conflict. She has been one the more emotional helpers since the memories returned. Her love and her caring attitude has helped me cope with some of the issues that come up from the hauntings; either a shift in my moods or lack of energy.

These memories were absolute shit...

...I just wished they ended…


	3. Anomaly?

_Welcome back to another chapter! Really quick, around June or July of 2015, I will be starting something that will basically take all my time. June (july at latest), will start Bootcamp! Then right after that is 6 months of "A" School for CT in the Navy. Yup I am going on a path for my career and I can't wait to be part of it and chaining off into something I love. _

_Also, the team is big, don't forget that. I have named every character and have created the plot around them so this means that this one may be rather long. _

_That was a quick update…. so let's continue with the story (I have the plot down and I hope you all enjoy it)_

**Anomoly? **

Life at the estate was somewhat soothing for me, and to be honest it helped with whenever I would encounter a memory coming back to me. Star Fox was no longer the small squad that it had used to be, it was now a 25 pilot unit. I remember when they started the mass expansion of the property so that we could hous those who wanted to stay here with the rest of the team. It was incredibly generous of the construction company to do it for free of charge and it took them no time to finish it off. The house now housed all 25 of us and we lived like one big family, in a weird kind of way. Since we were a large team, we were split into different squads, like before, each having it's own strength and role. We went from Alpha to Foxtrot and had three tech experts alongside Slippy.

Fox and I had just finished our meeting with the General about our new assignments. They were rather small but he promised to pay a large sum for the completion of them. Being the Mercenaries-for-hire that we are, we took them regardless of the sum of money promised for the success.

When we arrived back at the estate, we called a meeting in the underground room. All 25 of us were gathered and we listened to Fox outline the plan. Delta and Foxtrot Fox were dismissed as they were ground squads and had no role in the missions, and the rest of us were assigned a job. Beta Fox, Falco, and Slippy were to escort a small group of vessels to the Sector Y nebula so that goods could be safely transported to the fleet in place. Fox, Krystal, I, and Charlie Squad were to assist a CDF squad with the scouting of Meteo; according to Pepper, strange readings had been coming from there, both energy and physical activity.

This part of the job puzzled me as I knew of no other gangs in existence that would be using Meteo as a form of hideout. I had killed Wolf long ago and Star Wolf had been eradicated long ago, so it could be possible that the remnants of his gang could be up to something. I could see exactly why this would be the case. Wolf's men finally trying to get some revenge after some time of planning makes perfect sense in my mind.

"Krystal, Kevin, Charlie, mind if I speak with you all for a second?" Fox said as we tried to exit the room.

The six of us gathered around Fox and listened to what it was he had to say.

He simply shrugged at us, "I have my theories and my doubts, but nothing is set in stone until we see exactly what it is that's happening."

"What do you mean?" Krystal asked.

"I mean that this Meteo thing sounds like a trap. Think about it, Wolf and his crew were killed a while back, but his gang is possibly still in existence. Who is to say this activity isn't from them?"

I smiled slightly, "My thoughts exactly."

One of the members from Charlie Squad, a hard headed show-off avian by the name of Jordan Fisher, gave a slight chuckle, "Do you really think we'd fall for something like this?" Jordan was basically a clone of Falco, only more focused on showing his skills off and giving smart-ass remarks.

Jess Pierce, a grey vulpine with incredible intelligence, shot Jordan a foul look, "We're going in because of a job. It's an indirect springing of the trap. So in other words, yes, we are falling for it." It was obvious that the two didn't get along so well- Jess being a more serious person than Jordan was.

I spoke up as a new thought came to my mind, "You know… to be honest, I'd much rather run into Wolf's gang. I don't think we can handle another damn war."

Fox nodded slowly, "I can see why you feel this, but I agree. Too much has been happening, so let's hope for the best."

I didn't want another war to fight, the trauma I had from the past wars was enough. Even though I was older, an adult mentally, I could be affected just as much as when I was 16 and seeing death for the first time, killing for the first time, and experiencing loss for the first time.

Penny Pierce, a leporine and the stepsister of Jess, "And if it isn't Wolf's gang?"

Fox shrugged and sighed, "Then we hope the trap doesn't work." 

A sudden flashback from my past shot through my brain. Out of no where my head ached in pain as I saw two memories of my past. . Two memories that have haunted me suddenly reared their ugly heads.

"_LONG… LIVE…. YUTHAN!" A trap that was so easily sprung… "Kevin!" _I could see Fox running towards me_... "GET BACK! THAT ISN'T KEVIN!"_

"_KRYSTAL!" The near death of a close friend, at the hands of one of her own kind, a trap set by him "I'M GONNA KILL YOU, AUSTIN!" _I can Krystal lying on the floor near death and Austin to the side of me on the ground lifeless.

My head boomed in pain and Krystal and Cobe Cage quickly caught me. Cobe was another avian that was quiet and didn't speak much, though had incredible flying skills.

The two helped me sit back down at the table while the others watched in somewhat horror and absolute confusion.

"Oh no" Krystal said as she had the expression of pain on her face.

"Holy... what the hell just happened?" I asked as I held my head in absolute pain.

Krystal placed her hand on my head and closed her eyes, "Unbelievable" she said and paused for a moment. She then shook her head saying "How can they be so strong?"

Fox looked at her, "What is it?"

"His mind" she said, "I… I have no words for what's happening."

I slouched over and dug my head into my hands, suddenly slamming my fist on the arm of the chair I was in. I was frustrated, confused, and mad; after all I had done, the therapy Krystal and I went through, the coping I did, the power of Prometheus... they still haunt me as if they happened yesterday or mere minutes ago.

I sensed the worry in both Fox and Krystal. My power I had taken from Prometheus was becoming my strong suit, but the memories were immune to it; I couldn't erase them, I couldn't hide them, I couldn't even think they weren't there.I felt the anger rise in me, and then suddenly decided to take a deep breath. Inhaling and exhaling slowly, I released the anger built in me and relaxed.

As I inhaled and exhaled, I remember the words of my mother who taught me about this skill. She told me that whenever something has not gone my way and that there is no way of doing so, just take deep breaths and let it out nice and slowly. At this thought I felt a tear roll down my eye. It wasn't the thought of the how the technique can work, but the thought of my mother being gone. It was impossible for me to look at it any other way- the one I loved my entire life, the one that cared for me, the one I abandoned… was gone.

I took a deep breath, shakingly, and sighed "I can handle this" I said, knowing full well I couldn't.

Krystal shook her head, "No, you need to sit this one out Kevin. What if something were to happen out there and you suffered another flashback like this?"

I simply shook my head and looked at Fox, "Better not keep the CDF squad waiting." I then walked around the large table and up the stairs to the surface level of the house.

I sensed the pain in Krystal, knowing that all she has done has proven to be completely worthless. She was worried, I was worried, and the others had no clue about it.

I thought to myself, "I just need to fight…" I sighed softly, "I can do this."

I was determined to go on this mission and live the life I had taken up. I'm not going to simply leave because of the thoughts and struggles of my past, I'd brand myself as a coward if I hid and simply abandoned everything.

The team and I were all walking to the east end of the house, part of the extension. On the wall was a large blast proof door. We all waited until the door slid open, revealing a very large elevator. The 7 of us stepped inside and felt as the elevator started to move downwards. The special extension the estate received was intended to help us get into the air for missions and other various assignments.

As the door slid open, an extremely large hangar type room was revealed. The elevator was on the back wall of earth. Around the middle of the room were rows of walkways held up by the side walls of earth. Along each row were Arwings for the team. I looked up and saw that the row of Arwing's that had mine, Fox, Krystal, Falco, and Slippy's Arwing were being moved. Falco and Slippy were being carried by a large mechanism and were placed on another launching system just at the entrance of the large hangar door.

I took the small elevator with Fox and Krystal up to the row with our Arwing's. I jogged over to my Arwing and raised my arm up slightly, opening my holo communicator. Entering a quick command I had my white pilot suit teleported onto me, a new method adapted from the armor teleportation. I then quickly jumped up into my Arwing and awaited the launch mechanism.

Just as I finished strapping in I looked up and saw both Falco and Slippy instantly speed up and carried through the insanely large tunnel. This new mechanism would speed us through this tunnel and launch us into the sky at the other end, kind of like a slingshot.

"Communications line, green." Fox said over the comms, "All ships start your systems."

"Initiate launch sequence" a robotic voice said from the speakers in the hangar.

The second row of Arwing's just above ours, Charlie Fox, was lowered into the device and shot off through the tunnel. Finally, Krystal, Fox, and I were lowered into it. I cracked my neck and started the engines and G-Diffuser. Just ahead I could see the small orbs of light from Charlie Squads Arwings engines, still speeding through the tunnel.

All of the sudden, our four were launched forward. I loved the feeling of speed from this and watching as the lights from the tunnel sped past at blinding speeds- It was mesmerizing to say the least.

About 10 seconds passed and the end of the tunnel was approaching quickly. I grabbed hold of the controls and readied myself to pilot. Instantly, I felt the Arwing lift off of the slingshot system and looked as it was now flying through the air. Literally no time passed and we were already above the cloud cover just from the launch itself. Just like we were in space, we spun extremely fast until the wing's extended out. It never grew old on me; regardless of how many times I launched like that, I always loved the feeling as it reminded me that I was with friends and doing something good… at a price.

"Alright team" Fox said over the comms, "Let's go and see what's wrong with meteo."

Fox, Krystal, I, and Charlie Fox all headed in the direction of Meteo, ready to face the dangers that supposedly awaited us.

"Sir" Penny said over the comms, "Should we try to contact the squad telling them that we are en route?"

The feed, which was recently upgraded to provide one of every member simultaneously, enlarged that from Penny to Fox, whom nodded in agreement, "Good idea" he paused and set up the comm line, "Cornerian Defense Force Squad Bulldog 1, this is Fox McCloud of Star Fox. Do you read me?"

The HUD then moved the other feed's away, giving a larger one with static. We were all met with the silence and the white noise from the broken comm line. None of us knew what was happening, and quite frankly it gave me an incredibly horrible feeling about what was to come.

"Cornerian Defense Force Squad… Bulldog 1, do you copy?"

I started to grow a worried. First off I was confused as to why they weren't responding to a simple communication line, and second I was confused as to why we received static. Slippy had taught me a few strings about communications, and I knew that static usually meant that the other end of the line was heavily tampered with or even simply eradicated.

"Technical issues?" Jess asked.

Jordan shrugged, "I mean, it can happen… right?"

Krystal suddenly gasped deeply. It was out of nowhere and incredibly loud, as if she was just frightened by one of her worst fears.

I jumped at the sudden noise and damn near fired a few lasers into open space. I wasn't ready for something like that and it honestly caught me extremely off guard. Not only that, but my emotions and the feeling about this mission contributed to my jumpiness.

"Fuck… what hap-..." I said as I cut myself off. Instantly I could feel the emotion radiating off of Krystal. Whatever it was that she had sensed, I was not far behind from sensing as well. I was sent into a trance from the distress and pain that slapped me in the face.

"Uhhh, what just happened?" Penny asked with confusion and fear on her face.

I shook myself out of the trance, "Prime you weapons NOW!"

Right after I said this I changed the weapon systems to use the Ultra Lasers. Thankfully the Arwing had enough power to do so.

"Bul-" Fox tried to contact the squad once more, however I cut him off abruptly as I knew it was no use.

"Enough Fox, there's a reason why they aren't answering." I snapped as I sensed something still within the asteroid field, "Oh fuck… something is out there."

We were rapidly approaching the large asteroid field. The light from both Lylat Prime and Solar gave us the best visibility, giving us the upper hand at finding whatever it was that was out there.

I sensed something out of place. Just as I had got within range to see what was wrong, I felt the pain and the death within the field. Faint brain patterns from the squad holding up, all of which killed in cold blood. Destroyed by an unknown enemy hiding in the fields.

"Krystal…" I said as my heart sank slightly, "... do… do you feel this?"

She nodded slowly, "My god…"

Fox spoke softly, "Keep your guard up."

The 7 of us then entered the asteroid field, ready to fight. Neither Krystal nor I knew what was in store for us within this dangerous area. Already we lost ten allies before even discovering what it was that had killed them.

As I flew threw and passed several meteorites and asteroids, I could sense something was near. For some odd reason, I couldn't tell where it was exactly, what it was, or even if it was something at all.

"Krystal" I said, "Can you find anything?"

She shook her head, "No, but I can feel the presence of someone here."

I was somewhat relieved when she said that she was sensing the presence of another being. Deep down I had initially thought we would be fighting some sort of creature or an essence of something. But now I felt like the Wolf's gang theory was true.

"What… the fuck…" I said softly as I continued to fly over asteroids, still unable to find what it was I was sensing.

All of the sudden, I felt a spike in the activity I had tracked, almost as if the being is suddenly moving and with adrenaline in it's system. The brain activity and waves left behind by whatever it was that had done so simply jolted, causing me to flinch slightly.

"Argh…" I said as I grabbed my head from the slight sting, "Krystal?" I said, "Please tell me that was you just getting startled by something." My fingers were on both triggers and my eyes were shooting around carefully looking at every asteroid near me.

She shook her head once more, "No… it wasn't…"

"CONTACT!" Penny suddenly yelled, "Oh shit!"

My eyes shot down to the the control panel on my left. I typed in a quick command, activating the smart canopy. The ship scanned and it outlined all the Arwing's in sight. One of which seemed to floating aimlessly. Even with this device, it wasn't hard to find where it was Penny was located. Her sudden brain activity was like a straight line to her. I cracked my neck, had my fingers ready, and pushed the throttle forward all the way, zooming to the direction of Penny.

As I came over an asteroid, I found her and her Arwing, disabled and floating through space, just as the smart canopy outlined it to be.

"Oh shit!" I yelled as I zoomed down to it and stopped, peaking inside of the cockpit.

"Where is Penny!" Jess suddenly yelled, "Kevin! Where is she!?" The sound and emotion coming from his voice was enough to know that he was deathly afraid and expecting the worst.

I looked up and saw her in the cockpit, safe but unconscious.

She's unconscious but alive." I said, suddenly slamming my fist down, "What the fuck is happening?" I yelled, "Get Peppy to teleport her out of there." I said as I started to look around frantically.

All of the sudden, the brain activity from the being spiked once more. My comms went dead, and my smart canopy was shut off. Fear struck my body and the thought of action came to my mind; whatever was out there had targeted me, but I was ready for it.

"Come on out, you piece of shit." I said to myself as I tried to look around. I started to fly forward, circling around Penny's Arwing and looking all around me cautiously.

I looked off to one of the asteroids in front of me and noticed something odd in the pitch black shadow it had. Something a bit lighter, moving softly.

"There you are…"

I readied my finger and was just about to fire. Out of nowhere, a bright flash of blue light emitted from the exact spot I was looking at. My Arwing shook violently as electricity surged from the front HUD all the way to the back of the Arwing.

"No! No no no no!" I yelled repeatedly as I tried to restart the ship. To no avail, I continued to look forward as my Arwing was now slowly spinning.

My breathing intensified as I saw an oddly shaped ship arise from the shadow of the asteroid. I saw it fly slowly and towards Penny's Arwing.

"...oh no…" I said quietly and watching in horror. Suddenly another blue flash came from the ship, but it looked like it came from Penny's Arwing. A sigh of relief came through my mouth as she was now safe. However, the ship examining the Arwing slowly reversed away from it, turning towards me and flying closer to me.

My breathing was even more intense and my heart was pounding against my chest. I wasn't scared in any way, but the adrenaline and the thought of what is to come was too much for me.

"Go ahead and kill me, you fucker!" I yelled.

Suddenly, my vision went black. I felt nothing and all that I could see around me was darkness and emptiness. It was a sight too familiar to me, and it struck immense fear into my mind and intense flashbacks that I had long forgotten.

Whoever it was... it took me...

_**TO BE CONTINUED…**_

Oh DAMN! It took me forever to write this one. Why, do you ask? Well, writers block! It's a total pain in the arse but I did come through it and created this! I really hope you guys like where I am going with this and I am glad to say that this one will be very suspenseful and different from my other books.

As always, my readers…

*manly voice* TOODLES!


	4. Mental Torture

_Hey guys, I want to welcome you back to the story! I'm really glad I can continue this as my time has seemed to open up. I will soon be attending classes at my University, however as a Freshman, things shouldn't go too horribly since the classes I have are all what I want to do and not what I have to. _

_So without further adieu…_

_On with the story…_

**Mental Torture**

My vision was blurry and my head was throbbing in pain. All I could see was two figures going at it, swinging left and right, left and right. Red splatters would come from each of them, blood spewing from the wounds created by the repeated strikes of the two. I shook my head as I watched the horror unfold right in front of me. This was a memory turned into a vision, a memory I can never forget… a memory that is engraved into my mind for all eternity.

"KRYSTAL!"

My vision cleared up slightly and I was able to see the blue vixen putting up a strong, but futile fight against a silver vulpine. She was agile, but her fighting wasn't anywhere near a match for the vulpine in front of her.

My body was aching all over. I tried to get up, desperately trying to aid in any way, but the pain just shot through my body and forced me back down to the cold, hard ground. Anger and disgust raged within me as I watched the scene unfold.

"no…" I said softly and with force as I watched the vulpine land a direct hit on Krystal, causing her to lose balance.

"no!"

The vulpine landed another hit. Krystal spun around as her eyes looked off in a daze. The vulpine grabbed her once more, spun her around to face him, and let out one final blow to her head.

"NO!" I screamed as I watched the blue vixen fall to the ground, lifeless.

I couldn't believe what I was seeing. I watched my friend die right then and there, and I couldn't do a thing to help her. The anger within me raged even stronger, forcing me to slam my fist into the ground with so much force to break the concrete.

The vulpine simply smiled and looked over at me. I shook my head slowly as I tried to get back up, but the pain was too much for and I kept being pulled back down to the ground. It was as if gravity wanted me to stay down and watch the scene unfold. I looked up slowly and saw the vulpine now mere inches away from my face.

"WAKE UP!" he suddenly yelled.

_25 Minutes after capture…_

My body jolted out of it's slumber. I was in a kneeling position and fell onto my back from the sudden jolt in energy.

"AH!" I screamed as I shot backwards and landed on the floor. The floor was cold and metallic, which was odd for me as it was touching my skin… as if I wasn't wearing clothing.

"Get the fuck up you worthless piece of slime!" I heard someone bark at me.

My eyes were fixated on the ceiling, as if I was involuntarily ignoring the voices orders. I don't know why, but the ceiling had my full attention, nothing around me fazed me nor bothered me at all. My mind was in peace, for some reason, and I felt the emptiness take over my head.

"Are you fucking deaf?! Get up!" The voice yelled once more.

My brain shot back into reality and my attention fixated on the voice yelling. I slowly started to sit up, turning over and getting up onto my knees and then to my feet. But as I did so, I realized something that caught me completely off guard. I was, in fact, wearing zero clothing.

"What in the hell?" I said in disgust as I examined my naked body, fixing my gaze up at the source of the rude voice, "Who in the hell are you?" I said as if I had no emotion on the manner at hand, "And where the hell am I?"

The man standing on the other side looked like a vulpine. He had dark brown fur and had a nasty scar running from down his left eye. He simply smiled at me, "Don't you have the mouth on you. Get up, the boss wants you awake."

I was a bit confused, not knowing exactly what was indeed happening. I had completely forgotten about the dream I had just experienced as I was completely immersed in the situation at hand. I wasn't afraid, I wasn't frightened, I was just confused.

"May I ask why I am naked?" I asked before the man walked off.

The man stopped, looked back, and shrugged, "I don't know… the boss wanted you like that…" With that, he continued walking down the row of cells.

I shook my head slightly, "That's fucking disgusting man… you tell your boss that." I said in a let down tone, rather than an angry one. To me, that was pretty pathetic to have me naked in a cell, what the hell would I do anyway? Even without my armor I could possibly do some form of damage.

I was in what looked like a holding area, several stories tall. My cell had bars as if it was purposely meant to be ancient looking. The ones around me, however, all had glass that was fogged, hiding whatever it was that was inside. Beside my cell were two guards, both with rifle's in hand and standing tall and straight.

My mind felt clarity overcome it, my memory was begginning to return as details returned to me little by little. "...wait" I suddenly said to myself, quietly. A blue flash, a mysterious ship, Penny unconscious in her Arwing. It had come back to me, I was taken hostage, yet again.

"HEY!" I suddenly yelled as my emotions spiked with anger and fury. I looked up at the two guards, anger on my face and my emotions running wild.

One of the guards looked back at me, "What the fuck do you want?"

All of the sudden, I felt the most ungodly pain shoot through my body. My head felt like it was going to explode. My body trembled as I screamed in agony from whatever it was that had invaded my body. It sounded like I was being murdered as I tried to look up at the two guards, failing to even keep my eyes open. I was able to dull it slightly, but it was no use even for my telepathy, I had no success in the matter. I couldn't block the pain and I couldn't tell if it was me or something else. The pain was just too much for me to even comprehend.

"FUCK... PLEASE S-STOP!" I managed to yell out.

Another voice then came from the other side of the bars, "Submission, I like to hear it from someone as spiteful as you!" the voice paused but the pain droned on, "Alright, I think that's enough for you."

It suddenly stopped, all of it gone like a flash of light. I panted deeply as sweat poured off of my body. The pain was so excruciating that I thought I would have died right then and there, it was more than anything I had ever experienced. I tried to get up but was only able to support myself on my hands and knees. Slowly, my head lifted up, trying to get a glimpse at the culprit of my pain. Instantly did I regret doing so.

Kneeling down behind the bars was someone I had thought was long dead. It was someone I was sure I had killed, murdering him for what it was he did and for who he was. The crimes he committed, the suffering he put my friend through, the pain of him engraving a memory so vile into my brain.

The same white fur, the same scar, the same voice, the same accent… everything. Austin stood before me, alive and well.

"YOUUUU!" I hissed deeply at the sight. I suddenly felt my body jolt forward as I tackled the bars, reaching out and trying to grab Austin, "YOU SHOULD BE DEAD!" I yelled.

Austin simple jumped back and stood up, "Oh you… you adorable little creature." he said with a smirk.

The excruciating pain returned, this time it was much more severe. I screamed in bloody murder as I felt the pain pulse through my body once more. My mind felt like it was being torn apart, and my body felt like it was being twisted and crushed under an unknown force.

"NO!" I screamed, "PLEASE!"

The pain suddenly stopped and my body stopped it's uncontrolled fidget. I was now still, laying in the middle of the cell and looking at the ceiling, tears dropping from my eye from the pain. How could this happen to me? What is it that I have done to deserve any of this?

"That's our first lesson" Austin said softly, "I have so much in store for you my pet."

I simply laid there panting from the lack of oxygen and shook my head over and over again. I didn't believe this was happening, I couldn't because it was all too familiar.

"Disobey me, and you won't be the only one that suffers." Austin suddenly said.

Austin then stepped aside and walked over to the cell across from mine. On the control panel, he typed in a code, causing the fog on the door to dissipate instantly, revealing who it was that was inside.

I got up and supported myself on my hands and knees once more, looking up and over at the cell. Inside was Penny, on the floor and unconscious in the same condition as I was. Her naked body looked as though it was in peace, but I knew that it wasn't. I sensed her agony and I felt it reverb back to me. She was in pain, but it wasn't life threatening.

I spoke softly as I was still in agony from the pain's aftermath, "What… what do you want from me…"

Austin spoke softly once more, "It's really quite simple actually..." he said, "as you can see, and possibly guess, I want revenge for what it is you have done."

I shook my head once more, "How… in the fuck... are you… alive?"

Austin chuckled slightly, "Someone doesn't like to listen." he said, "But if you really must know, Lord O'Donnell had some great technology. You'd be surprised about the wounds that can be healed and the medical attention one can receive."

I stopped shaking my head. My eyes grew wide at what Austin just said, "You mean…"

"Oh, no no," he said shaking his head rapidly, "the others are long dead. Had they been alive I wouldn't have captured you, instead I would have killed you on the spot. But, you have some uses that I can take advantage of."

"B-but…" I stuttered with disbelief. "This doesn't make any sense to me… you… you can't be alive!"

Austin chuckled once more, "You can keep telling yourself that, just know that you are mine now." he said clenching his fists and laughing, "Now… now I am going to hunt down your entire team, and I'm going to kill each and every one of you."

I looked back up at Austin, "And you think you're going to win? You couldn't even beat a human without mental abilities!" I said trying to intimidate him.

The laugh that came from Austin instantly filled me with fear as I felt ignorance overcome my mind. Austin sounded as though he was genuinely entertained by my expression of thought, and potential stupidity.

"Do you really think I am going to be the one to do it? You really are a stupid creature!" he continued laughing, "No… I am not the one that will be hunting them down, nor will I be the one doing the fighting."

I was starting to feel fear overcome my senses, "An… an army?" For some reason, I was hoping he would say yes to this.

Austin smiled a devilish smile, "Oh don't be unrealistic, I have no Army" he said, "No, I will not be hunting them down… you are…" My heart sank as I heard this.

I lowered my head, "And you expect me to do such a thing?"

Austin smiled as the pain returned to torture my body, "I do indeed" he said with a devil smile on his face, "Try to warn them and I'll kill you from here, try to _evade _them and I'll kill you from here, try to hide your mind and I'll torture you until you remember your mission."

I looked up slowly to Austin, "You are even more power hungry than Wolf was, you insane son of a bitch."

Austin simply chuckled, "Why thank you" he paused, "Now then, it's time for you to go!" He clapped his hands together twice, causing my suit of armor to teleport onto my body.

I jolted in fear as it suddenly happened, it had caught me off guard.

I looked at Austin as he opened my cell door, signaling for me to get out, "Come on, it's time for you to hunt down your friends!" he said joyfully.

I looked down at my hands and clenched them, making fists. I could fight him right now, I could easily kill him right now! Looking back up, I could sense that Austin was expecting some action from me, but was holding back any mental torture he could give me. My telepathy was strong, but it wasn't enough to fight against Austin. Dreadfully, I accepted my fate and slowly walked out of the cell.

Austin smiled as the guards had their rifles trained on me.

"Alright then" Austin said, "I will be monitoring you from this ship" he winked, "I can hear you, see you, and torture you. Obey me and this will be over quickly."

I nodded slowly as I simply looked ahead of me and off into nothing.

"You're Arwing is towards the back in the craft hangar." he said as he turned around and headed for the bridge.

I looked back and saw the two guards still with their rifles pointing at me.

"Let's go, human!" One guard shouted.

My mind was full of hate and disbelief. Before I started to walk, I gave Penny a small mental message, telling her that I would get us out of here. I knew that it was going to be damn near impossible to do so, but I had to try nonetheless. Austin was strong, but I knew Krystal would be able to instantly sense the danger, helping me in some way without alerting Austin. Afterall, I just gave Penny a small message without Austin even knowing, and that was using a small technique Krystal taught me. I had an advantage, but it was nowhere near one that could help me win against him.

If I was to win and truly kill Austin, I would have to do as he says, learning from his control over me and finding a way to counter his telepathy.

It doesn't matter what he will have me do… I _will _kill him...

_**To Be Continued **_

Holy damn, such drama and a surprise return from a vile creature.

I know I said this one would be a unique, but I do have some awesome stuff planned for this book. As you can see from the ending of this chapter, this will be Kevin and his fight mentally, rather than physically.

And if you're wondering about the title of the book, you will see soon enough why it is a new enemy.

I really hope you all enjoy this book.

Happy New Year, Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, etc etc.

Until next time my awesome readers…


	5. Sense of Hope

_Welcome back after so time has passed. Yes, a lot of time… _

_Anyway, I fear that this book is becoming rather complicated. I keep facing writers blocks because I can't advance plot in a way that is satisfying or makes sense. I'm not sure, but we'll keep going and see what happens. _

_On with the story… _

**Sense of Hope**

The whole thing was messing with me. My mind was in so many different places and thinking on so many different things at the same time, it was unbearable and was my downfall. I would have never agreed to Austin and his plan to capture the team; what was I even thinking? Was my head really that messed up and my emotions that out of control that I blatantly agreed to the evil that I am now stuck in? Regardless, I was on my way to start off Austins first plan of capturing.

He had instructed me to head back to the team, telling them that I was able to escape, but Penny being killed in action. With his power, I had no choice but to do so, or I suffer endless pain, which I didn't want to experience now. He had his plans, and I had my own plan to myself, hidden away from Austin. If I could chip away at what Austin has, then I can finally kill him and make sure that he stays down forever, but of course it was to be done in secret, away from Austin's attention.

I neared Corneria rapidly, preparing myself to break the news to the team. How I was going to be able to tell them exactly what was happening was beyond me, but I would find a way to do so.

In the back of my head, I could feel Austin's presence. He didn't know it, but I knew when he was in my head and listening, ready to bring me pain at the slightest hint of disobedience. I wasn't entirely hopeless, some of it still shined, and I was ready to take advantage of any chances I come across.

As I broke the atmosphere, I entered the command to op the rear bay doors, a mile away from the estate. The large doors slid open, and my Arwing was sent into auto pilot to fly itself through the narrow corridor and into it's landing space beneath the estate.

I held my head as the Arwing did its job of flying, thinking about the plan and how to execute it correctly. The team isn't entirely easy to fool, especially Krystal, she'd know right away that something was going wrong if I were to suggest going to Aquas for no apparent reason. However, something did come to my mind, it would cause Austin to get cautious, but it was probably the only way I can get the team to Aquas without them suspecting much. If I forced them there, then they would suspect something was off, and If I tricked them into going there, then I could go forward with my own plans. It was dirty, but it was the only way I could anything against this Cerinian monster.

The Arwing slowed to complete stop as a mechanical arm came down, grabbing the sides and placing it back into it's original spot on the enormous rack of ships. As it locked, the cockpit hissed open, I, however, simply sat back with my eyes closed.

"...dear god" I said to myself, "what am I doing?"

I jumped out of the cockpit and onto the right wing, jumping down to the floor and over to the elevator. The small elevator took me down to the surface, I walked over to the other elevator and took it all the way up to the estate itself.

On the way up, I thought about the whole plan once more. What if the team isn't able to take any hints that I try to give. I am trying to make them as clueless as possible, to please Austin and keep him from harming Penny and I, but I want them to have some clues alluding to the danger.

I slammed my fist in the wall and cursed to myself, "I'm going to get you for this Austin" I said to myself, only to be met with a slight shock of pain radiating from my head. It was enough that I was able to stop it, making a point to Austin that I was listening, but not liking it.

The doors slowly slid open, revealing the small hallway that connected the two pieces of the estate. To the left was where the original team lived, and the right were the new members living areas and rooms. I felt them conversing in the briefing room, debating and arguing over what happened not to long ago. Apparently I wasn't in captivity for long, only around an hour of hell was what I endured. I walked over to the stairs that led to the room.

"So" I said loudly as I walked down, "I think you guys may want to hear what it is I have to say."

Everyone looked towards the entrance and watched as I walked into the room, unscathed.

"Kevin?!" Rose cried as she saw me alive and well. She ran over to me and hugged me tightly, relieved that I was still breathing.

Fox was even shocked, "What the hell happened to you?" he and Jess were standing next to each other at the front of the room. They were the two arguing, I had sensed it was due to Penny being captured and possibly killed, and the team not doing anything about it and simply letting them take her.

I released Rose slightly, looking straight at Fox and then over to Jess, "I know where they took Penny."

Jess was instant to speak, "We have to go! We need to stop these fuckers now! What if they are going to traffic her or something!?"

Fox grabbed his shoulder and yelled, "Enough!" he then looked over at me, "How do you know where they're going?"

I shook my head, "As I was escaping, I had sensed that the leader of the small group hiding in the asteroids, and yes, there were more ships hiding, was taking taking her to Aquas. That's all I was able to get, but I think it's enough for us to forge a counter attack and get Penny back."

Falco tilted his head, "Huh, trafficking, the gangs in Lylat are starting to become ballsy."

"You mean they hadn't done so before?" Jordan asked.

Falco shrugged, "At least not when I was affiliated with any gang. I never heard of trafficking going on in Lylat. I guess they like takin risks now."

Fox nodded repeatedly, "Okay, we'll think of something to do, but we can't just go in guns blazing."

"BUT WE HAVE TO SA-" Jess yelled before being silence by Fox's fist.

My eyes grew wide at the sudden action taken by Fox. I didn't really expect him to do such a thing, then again I felt that he was pretty fired up with Jess. Honestly, who could blame him? Jess was was Penny's brother, and he swore to protect her during their service on the CDF, and now on Star Fox. While I didn't condone what Fox just did, I also didn't want Jess pestering us with pointless arguing and bickering, so I just let it happen and didn't say a word.

Fox was pretty mad now, "I am not going to let Penny die like this!" he said furiously, "It's bad enough that she was captured, it's even worse that you are here arguing and not getting anywhere with it. We will save her, damn it, just not right now. If we go in without any sense of direction we'll risk even more of us getting captured or worse!"

I could still feel Austin within my mind. He was keeping a close eye on me, making sure I didn't reveal anything. Surprising, his cautiousness didn't spike after I told them about Aquas, instead he let it go due to it being a much more believeable plan. It didn't really matter to me if he got scared over the fact that Star Fox knew of him being alive and his plan with me, but I did care for my life, and I wasn't going to be selfish and forget about the other life that is at stake.

Several hours later, Solar had set over the horizon. I was sitting in my room, thinking over my past and how I got to this horrible situation. As I was doing this, I felt something different in my mind, two different presence within my head at the same time.

"shit" I said softly as I realized that Krystal was trying to look into my mind. Instantly, I blocked her out and clouded my mind, keeping her away from where Austin would be detected. It wasn't time to reveal what is happening, not yet. Just a little longer and I would be able to.

Over the course of the day, I payed close attention to Austin and his grip on my mind. One major flaw I noticed with it was that he could lose it easily. He had great strength with it, but he didn't have all powerful control. Knowing how telepathy can wander around when one is asleep, I devised the plan to reveal everything when Austin sleeps and loses complete grip of my mind.

"Hold on Krystal" I said to myself as I forced her out of my head.

As I did so, keeping Austin unaware of her intrusion, he loosened his grip. I sensed his own brain activity drop slightly, his emotions that were coming through to me were dim and tired. He was sleeping, but he wasn't in deep sleep.

I smiled, "Dumbass" I spoke softly, "doesn't even know his own weakness" I was glad and filled with joy. For once, I actually saw hope in the situation.

Suddenly, Austin's grip ceased. He was no longer chained to my mind and I was free from his control. Instantly, I shot up to my feet and ran out of my room and over to Krystal's room.

I slammed on the door, "Krystal open up!"

I felt her sudden spike in emotion as I left my room and she opened it just as I finished my sentence.

"Kevin…" she said as I brushed passed her.

"Listen" I said abruptly, "I don't have much time, but you need to know this."

She shook her head, "Kevin what's wrong?"

I felt the control slowly returning to my mind. Austin's mind was wandering back to mine, so I had very little time.

"Penny is alive, she is fine but she is being held hostage by Austin! I don't have any time to explain. He is using me as we speak, he has his mind chained to mine and using my skills and connections with you all so that I can lure you into traps to capture or kill each and every one of you. The grip he has on my mind is deadly and I cannot fight it, but I can suppress it slightly. Whatever you do, do not go into my mind and do not search my mind. If Austin catches wind of any of what I just said then he will kill Penny and disappear from Lylat for sure; we cannot let him leave or live any longer."

Krystal simply nodded with her eyes wide and her hands covering her mouth.

"Please, forgive me, but I can't do anything about it. Just go along with what I say and we can end up beating and killing Austin. Go to the traps with full awareness of what is to come. It's the only way we're going to win and save Penny."

She nodded again.

The grip returned to my mind as Austin wandered back. It wasn't as if he was awake or anything, it was just a weak grip because of his mind aimlessly moving around.

"So" I said, changing the subject instantly, hoping Krystal would get the idea of what was happening, "You mind telling me what it was that Jess and Fox were fighting about exactly?"

Krystal looked at me with a confused look, to which I shot back a slight wink with a face of worry.

She nodded, "Yeah, Jess was just upset that we didn't stop them from taking Penny and you. Thankfully you're safe, but Penny can still be out there."

I nodded back, "I understand what he is feeling." I said, trying to keep my mind away from the information I had revealed to Krystal. Just the slightest thought would catch Austin's attention and ruin the entire plan. "After all" I continued, "if you lost someone you loved, and had the strongest feeling that you could in fact save them, then you would jump for the opportunity to do so."

Krystal simply nodded with her head lowered.

"When I learned that my mother was killed, I couldn't do anything, yet I wanted something to happen. Deep down I wished dearly for something." I continued.

"What was that?" Krystal asked.

I took a deep breath in, my breath shaking from the thought of my mother being gone, "I wanted what was said to me to be untrue. I wanted to hear back from them, telling me that my mother was safe and sound, living life like she used to. But…" I wiped my face from my tears, "...some things can't be done, and some things happen for a reason."

The day I heard that my mother had passed tore me apart. I felt like my heart had simply disappeared from my body and that my life was completely meaningless now. I had zero family left, she was all that I had remaining- now she was gone and I was alone, all alone in my life. But, Krystal and the other's helped me recuperate and getting me back to my old self. Because of this, because of the trust I had in them, I had to inform them about this one way or another- I wouldn't dare turn against my own friends.

Austin's grip weakened once more, leaving my mind and wandering off elsewhere.

"If you have a question about what's happening, ask it now." I said, looking at Krystal. Her face was still lowered as she pondered her own memories of Cerinia, the beautiful home world of this lovely vixen.

She simply raised her head, "How are we going to tell Fox and the others?"

I sighed, "Well, I can confine Austin to my mind and only my mind. I haven't tried it, but later on, I will see if it is doable. If I can infact do this, then you can freely tell the others about what I said, but they cannot say anything to me."

Yet another plan was coming into my own. I didn't think I would be able to expand it this much since Austin had so much power and was beyond deadly. Regardless, I was taking full advantage of what it was I could get away with.

She nodded, "I understand. Let me help you." she sat down next to me, "I can teach you to control your telepathy much more. I get that you have had yours for some time and are used to it, but there are secrets you have yet to unlock and potential in your own power that you have yet to meet."

I sighed once more, "Austin would likely find suspicion in it. But, I don't think we have much of a choice."

She shook her head, "I can pass down some teaching that my own father gave me to control my telepathy. He was a powerful Cerinian and had great influence, being the sole being with absolute control over his power, he passed them down to me, but I was unable to meet the expectations of handling such power. I couldn't handle it, and to this day I have yet to find the strength to do so. I am going to teach you this, whether Austin likes it or not."

I smiled slightly, finding comfort in the determination of Krystal and her intention to save me from Austin, "Thank you"

I wrapped my arms around her and smiled even more, "Austin isn't going to get away. He's going to die, one way or another."

Feeling the slight grip of his mind, I tapped on Krystal's shoulder, releasing her and getting up from her bed. I scratched the back of my head and looked back at her, "I assume that we'll start tomorrow? After we return from Aquas?"

Krystal nodded once, "Yes" she gave the simplest of answers to my question, and I was off to my room, feeling Austin slowly return to my mind, but drift off repeatedly.

Austin was a strange being. He was ruthless, menacing, powerful, and yet comfortable with everything. His attitude towards what he does and the possible outcomes of his actions are unlike anyone I have seen. The ego that he boasts is extreme and the self confidence that is based solely on his ability to fight and his intense telepathy were his downfall, in my eyes. I had already defeated him once, fighting his weak telepathy. Now I had to train my own to best him at his new game, a dangerous and risky game.

One way or another, Austin was going to die.

_To Be Continued…_

Right, so the plot is starting to mold into something different. Before I had Kevin going full on bad guy, having no control over anything, but now it's a bit more subtle as writers block keeps placing impossible scenarios in my face.

So, I ask you, please leave a review and tell me what you think of the story so far. Do you like the plot? If you have suggestions, tell me! If there are some things I need to improve upon, tell me! I can only get better with feedback.

Thank you all for reading, and I hope that this book will serve to be a great reading piece for every one of you.

Until next time...


	6. The Trap? Pt 1

_So, this chapter, like I said in my update on my profile, is going to be awesome. I said to keep an eye out mainly because there is a surprise. So let's not keep you waiting_

_On with the story…_

**The Trap? Pt. 1**

Today was the day. Fox had gone over the plan with us multiple times, most of them without me in the room. This was because Krystal had successfully informed them all of the danger waiting for us at Aquas, how Austin was in control and had full access to my mind. To my surprise, Fox found absolutely zero danger in me- he had lost no trust in me and had faith in me, even commenting on the fact that I could be used to beat Austin.

But, since the day began, I had noticed nothing within my head. Austin was not chained to me and my mind was free to think and come out of hiding. Why this was I had no idea, perhaps something had happen to Austin causing him to focus his attention away from me and towards whatever it was distracting him. Whatever it was, we were taking this chance to ambush and possibly even kill him right now, without him even knowing.

I was standing on the Great Fox's bridge with Fox and the others. Tailing Great Fox was Great Fox II, another Dreadnaught class ship created solely to house the new members of the team during missions. Though it had a completely different design- a long design with two rows acting as the main hangers- it was almost near the strength and power of the Great Fox. Oddly enough, I had a strange feeling, like I had seen it before, but I disregarded the feeling altogether.

The blue planet was approaching quickly. I had tried reaching out, looking for Austin either out in orbit or on the surface. Krystal even assisted in this attempt, only to find that he was nowhere to be found, not in space, not on the surface, and not even in this sector of Lylat.

"This is odd" I said as I opened my eyes, "Neither can I find Austin nor is he chained to my mind. It's like he just disappeared altogether."

Krystal added on, "This is strange indeed, I can't find him either."

I shook my head in confusion, "This isn't good."

Falco quickly chimed in, "To be fair, none of this is good." He always had some sort of joke or some sort of remark that had to be made. Just like

Fox raised his hand to his chin, pondering the odd situation, "Kevin" he said, "Are you sure that Austin told you to come to Aquas?"

I shrugged, "I don't know how I could hear otherwise. Honestly I'm just as confused as you are."

"Diego" Fox said over the comms, contacting Great Fox II's captain, Diego Armstrong, "This is Fox, do you copy?"

Diego, a pantherine with dark purple fur, appeared on the forward holo screen, "Loud and clear boss." he had a strong cariocan accent and was always on point, ready for any orders and taking his job rather seriously, but with a twist of his bronx attitude.

Fox made a gesture in mid air, causing a holo screen to appear in front of him. He pulled up a feed of the radar, "Is Great Fox II detecting anything odd on the scanners or radar? Something's definitely up, but we're kind of in the dark right now."

Diego looked over at the radar holo screens and shook his head, "Nothin boss, doesn't look like there's anything here."

I spoke up as I finally found something living on the surface of the planet, it wasn't a native animal, but it was a being that I had recognized. I couldn't make out who it was exactly, but I could tell that I had indeed sensed this before.

"Hold on" I said as I noticed the presence, "Something is on the surface, it's not an indigenous animal."

Fox looked over, "Is it Austin?"

I shook my head, "Possibly, but it's hard to tell. Something it clouding it, keeping me away- but I know it's there."

Krystal smiled, "If that's the case then it's definitely Austin."

A deep sigh came from my mouth, "Why is it that I have the worst feeling about this?"

I wasn't wrong to feel this way. Austin had disappeared from my head and I wasn't able to find any traces of him anywhere, even with the minor training to unlock even more of my telepathy.

The training Krystal had put me through was tough- for simply learning how to use more of the ability, it's surprisingly difficult and painful. She had told me that her father tried training her, only to fail due to her apparent weakness to it. However, with the situation at hand, she started to pass down the teachings to me, making me stronger with my mind and giving me more control over my telepathy. So far, I was able to strike pain in any foe I connect my mind to, similar to how Austin did so to me when he had captured me. I felt as though this was the only thing I would need to kill the deranged Cerinian, but deep down I knew it would take a little more than just that.

"Alright" Fox said, "I think Delta Fox should head down and scout out the area. Since our plan is useless here, we'll have to wing it." he continued over the comms, "Delta Fox, gear up and ready the transport."

I stepped up, "I'm going with them. They'll need someone down there to sniff out whatever is hiding down there. Plus, I can provide some killer sniper support."

Fox looked over, "Are you sure Kevin? What if it is Austin down there and he ends up killing you?"

I smiled slightly, "I'm worried about dying unless I don't fight before it happens." I then raised my arm up to my side, activating the holo communicator and walking out of the bridge, "Delta Fox, meet me on the surface, I'm heading down now to get a quick scope and secure you all a landing zone."

Jayce Hope, the leader of the squad, replied, "Copy that boss, we're gearing up as we speak"

I nodded, "Good. If I were you, I'd pack a good amount of ammo capsules. Who knows what's down there waiting."

"Copy that boss" Jayce said before ending the comm line.

As I exited the elevator and into the landing bay, I threw my fist down and slammed the ground, activating my armor. The black exoskeleton suit instantly teleported onto me and began to sync to my body. Since it was an exoskeleton, it had to do so each time so that it could adapt to the strength I have when it is active.

I cracked my neck and walked into the armory. It was added into the ship after Star Fox grew into a unit. The small room had three rows with shelves in between. Each shelve had D-9 blaster pistols, D-10 Auto-Rifles, and EL-8 Gatling Guns. However on the back wall were some special weapons. On the wall were four guns that were used specifically by us. My weapon was specially created by Space Dynamics and was tailored towards my skill of using one of its kind. I had nicknamed it Ripper, thought it was really a heavily upgraded XSD-1 sniper rifle, one with a state of the art digital scope, a greatly extended magazine, a barrel that silences the discharging plasma, and even a G-Diffuser to make the shots pinpoint accurate.

I loved going out to the range and firing the gun, though not a single job had come up where I could really utilize the power it had, until now. I grabbed the weapon and slung it onto my back where it magnetized to it. I reached down to a small drawer and grabbed five more energy cells for the behemoth sniper rifle and placed them in my leg holster. I then walked over to the shelves and grabbed a D-9 pistol, loading it with a cell and lowering it to my right leg holster. The holster extended out from my leg and I placed it within, ready for the mission at hand.

I walked out of the armory, only to find Krystal waiting over by her Arwing, wearing her flight suit and holding a D-9 pistol to her side.

"Uh, Krystal?" I asked, "What are you doing?"

She smiled, "I'm coming along with you. Austin is too powerful for you to handle. If both of us are there, then we can probably cripple him enough so that Delta Fox can fight or even kill him."

I sighed and lowered my head. I knew it was a bad idea to let her come along, especially since Austin was far more powerful than both of us combined. Truly he was, Austin was damn near a god with his power of telepathy, but I couldn't risk all of Delta Fox and I getting killed, but at the same time I didn't want Krystal in harms way, especially when that harm is Austin.

That memory plays back through my head every once in a while. The day Austin and I first met, nearly dying and nearly losing a friend. That friend was standing right before me, and she was willing to go back out there and risking her life to fight the same person that had grown even more powerful than the first time. That idea made my stomach ache and my head spin, the thought of her actually dying, the thought of my closest friend being killed was not something I wanted to endure.

I shook my head slowly, quickly turning it into a vigorous shake, "No, no, absolutely not. You're insane if you think you're going down there with us. Do you not remember what happened last time, Krys? Do you not remember the pain you had endured from that bat shit insane Cerinian? I am not going to let you go back out and face him when he is even more powerful than before."

"Kevin.." She said with her mouth open.

I quickly stopped her, "Please…" I said softly, "... Austin is too strong…" I shook my head once, "I don't want you to die Krystal. He almost did it once… and if you died… then… I don't know what I'd do. I could never forgive myself for letting it happen at the hands of a madman. You are my closest friend, and I don't want to lose you, and neither does anyone else on this team." I paused, "Please… just go back to the bridge and monitor the situation from there."

Krystal lowered her head. She thought hard about the decision and I could tell that she was seriously considering the danger in the mission.

"Alright…" she said ever so softly, "... just promise me one thing"

I smiled slightly. The thought of Krystal taking the safer route made me happy. She was indeed my closest friend and even a mother figure to me. I always felt like she was the woman that filled the hole in my life where my mother had filled. Krystal has been nice, she has helped me in my times of need, and she has always been there for everyone, not only me.

"Come back alive" She said before tackling me and squeezing me tightly.

I wrapped my arms around her as well, "I'll be fine…"

I let Krystal go and looked at my Arwing. I took a deep breath and readied myself. Using the added strength of the exo armor, I jumped onto the wing and took a seat in the cockpit. The engines of the Arwing started to whirl to life and spew their plasma energy. I looked ahead, out into the open space and took another deep breath praying that the mission go as planned and that no one be harmed.

The Arwing shot out of the hangar and into space. The wings expanded instantly and the ship was in my control. I veered towards the large blue planet and headed right for the marked area on the smart canopy, the mark was located over an island that was literally in the middle of the ocean. It was small and had no other islands around it, it was lonely and looked like the perfect place for anyone to hideout on.

I smiled slightly, "I'm not going to let you live this time you son of a bitch."

_**To Be Continued…**_

Oh my, what do we have here? Looks like Kevin is in for a little surprise next chapter ;). I've got a really nice surprise cooking in the next chapter, so be ready for it.

So, tell me what you thought. I have been able to devote more time to my writing recently since my class schedule has cleared up nicely. Early classes that get out around noon and no classes on Fridays.

Please, leave me a review and tell me if you liked it, if I need to improve on something, if I need to add something. Hell, I'll even take some suggestions that I may try to work into the book. Really, I appreciate and LOVE hearing from you all.

And so…

Until Next Time…


	7. The Trap? Pt 2

Welcome back! I'm sorry this one took a while, I know I said that I would have it up last week but I was bombarded with so much work that I just couldn't devote any time to the book. Interestingly enough, changing the story is a habit for me. Ever since Crossed Paths Book 2 I have been changing things even when I think I have it set in stone. This is partly also why I have taken so long with this chapter. Anyway, I don't have much else to say other than…

On with the story!

**The Trap? Pt: 2**

The risk I'm taking for this mission is unbelievable. My stomach felt like it had turned over completely and my heart was racing at the thought of what I was flying into. I knew I could fight, I knew I could shoot, and I sure as hell knew I could be deadly, but with Austin possibly being on the island, I feared that neither I nor Delta Squad would be returning to the Great Fox.

I broke atmosphere about 20 miles off shore. The island was small, so it wouldn't be a good idea to land there on the spot. I couldn't sense anyone else other than the single being on the island, so I figured that a sneak approach would be the best thing to do, especially if it was Austin hiding the minds of his own gang.

Thankfully, the Arwing that I had was equipped with something the others were not. Since I was the most recent to destroy one, I was given one with some added features. Fox and the others hadn't been in a wreck in so long that the development for new tech had gone far, what with Space Dynamics not having to issue replacements for them. I kind of felt bad, but I knew that the odd feature would come in handy one day, afterall we were a mercenary team, so anything could happen.

I leveled out with the ocean and zoomed across the sea towards the island. I was closing in fast, already at 8 miles. I looked over at my controls and activated the new feature on my Arwing: a submerging function. The wings on the Arwing folded backwards to their pre-launch position, though the engine continued to run. Slowly the Arwing began to dip down, diving straight into the sea, continuing to move as if it were flying. The G-Diffusers still had functionality, so the Arwing was maneuverable but at 40 percent what it could in the air. Basically, this new function had turned the Arwing into a Blue Marine without the struggle of having to deploy the submarine that hadn't been used since the Aquas Bioweapon fiasco back during the Lylat War. Quick frankly I was glad that I didn't have to use the Blue Marine; with it being so old, I didn't quite trust it enough to pilot it.

I opened a comm channel with Delta Squad as I deactivated the cloak and rushed towards the island.

"Delta Squad… Jayce, do you read me?" I said as I looked down at the team feed show static.

Jayce and the rest of Delta Squad then appeared on the HUD.

"Loud and clear boss."

I smiled, "Good, I'm closing in on the island right now. Stay in orbit until I am able to clear you guys an LZ."

"You don't want to take this as a full frontal assault? I mean it is only one person on the island." Jayce asked with confusion on his face.

I shook my head slowly, "No, that wouldn't be suitable for this. I've been thinking about it and realized that Austin is one powerful motherfucker. So, i've come to the assumption that there is more than just that one being on the island. If Austin is really there, then he is simply hiding the minds of his gang from Krystal and I, if we just go in guns blazing we will surely be killed. Do you get what I'm saying?"

Jayce chuckled slightly, "Yeah, I hear ya." the tan vulpine said with a smile. Jayce was an excellent fighter, though he wasn't necessarily a great pilot. Jayce was a fun guy and was always on top of what it was he was told during missions and small oddjobs. He would get what was needed to be done done, but while having fun and acting berzerk.

Ryleigh Hope, Delta Squads frontline man, sighed slightly, "So you're saying you figured out a trap? That we would have died? Fantastic, now I know something's gonna happen."

Delta squad chuckled in unison at their nervous comrade's behavior. The young blue and grey avian was extremely nervous and was always cautious regardless of what it was he was doing. I don't blame him one bit, he has only been with the team for a short amount of time and before that he had been enlisted into the CDF months before the Yuthan invasion. I had a good amount in common with Ryleigh, he and I are cautious people and we always question the situation, though in battle we excel and work as if these feeling are non existent.

"Just remember the training you were given and don't have a nervous breakdown." Myla said in a calm and demanding voice.

Myla Hartfield was someone I looked at with respect. The white murine was a goddess when in battle and had reflexes unlike anything I had ever seen, in fact I thought that it was science fiction to be as fast as she was. Myla was the sweetest girl you could ever meet, but she was beyond deadly in combat, especially hand to hand. I remember sparring off with her during our down time to keep our skills in tact when not on missions and losing every single time to her. I admit that I had cheated on several instances by using my telepathy to pinpoint her moves, but even then she was so much faster than me that I couldn't react in time. It was weird, she was so nice and sweet, yet serious and deadly.

"Yeah, besides, I'm the one that draws the most attention, especially when I have my favorite toy with me." Zion mused as he nodded his head slowly.

The rather muscular black canine was somewhat of a gentleman. Zion Blackwood was a nice guy and rarely fought with anyone, unless his life was at stake. As one would expect, he isn't one for flying or hand to hand combat, but damn does he love his guns and his tactics. Honestly, having Zion on the team was fun, in an odd way really. He was the stereotypical large gun wielding brute that loved to just shoot things with whatever he can get his hands on; it really was awesome seeing him work his shooting magic.

I was now less than a mile from shore. I slowed to a stop almost instantly and readied myself to go out into the water. It was so clear that I could see for miles I even saw how the land inclined up to the surface, giving me the edge to plan how I was going to get up there. It was really a sight to behold seeing all the indigenous life in the water swimming about, they were so exotic and looked like nothing I had ever seen. The fish were colorful, the sea floor was riddled with vibrant coral, and the water was so clear that it almost looked as though it wasn't even there. However I had a dangerous mission on my hands and the safety of Delta squad to handle; I grabbed my XSD-1 and activated my suits helmet, giving me oxygen supplies for when I was in the water. With the large rifle in my hands, I opened the canopy and felt the water very slowly rush in. Once the canopy was wide enough for me to slip through, I began to swim towards the shore, using my bio scanner built into my viso to see if anyone was patrolling the shoreline. Luckily there wasn't so I emerged from the water slowly with my XSD drawn.

"This is Kevin, I've made it to the shoreline. I don't see anyone… yet. Stay in orbit until I can confirm or need backup." I said over the comms as I slowly looked up and down the shoreline while moving towards the tree cover. As I moved, I pressed a button on the side of the XSD. Two metallic pieces then protruded from the weapons main body, extending all the way to the end of the barrel and attaching itself: this was a very handy silencer.

I reached the treeline and broke into a full on sprint through the woods towards where I was sensing the being. The island was small from the sky, but was rather large up close.

The trees weren't too close to each other, in fact the trees were rather open and there were hardly any bushes or tall grass around, only tall trees and some sunlight seeping through the tops of the trees. They were so tall that it felt like I was in a jungle, and quite frankly it soothed me a bit. The sheer silence of the nature surrounding me, the distant sound of the ocean waves crashing into the shore, and the sound of my feet hitting the grassy floor covered in leaves was somewhat peaceful. Oddly enough I liked it, regardless of the fact that I was in an incredibly deadly mission, but as a mercenary I was more than used to it, especially after staring death in the face and telling it to fuck off on numerous occasions.

As I ran, I continued to scan the area around me with the bioscanner, hoping to see some blue figure pop up on my HUD, giving me a target and confirming my suspicion of Austin hiding the minds of his men.

Continuing my run, I quickly found a perfect spot for Delta Squad to land. It was a large opening surrounded by the trees and with perfect visibility of the sky. I kneeled behind a tree and activated the thermal scope on my XSD; who knows if they have some armor that hides bio signatures. Scanning the tree line for anything noticed something a little strange, the being that I had sensed began to show signs of rapid activity. The brain waves increased and the movement of the being startled me, it was moving fast and it was coming closer.

I gasped as I jumped behind the tree I was at.

"Oh shit, Delta Squad, be advised, target is on the move. It's moving fast so get your asses ready!" I said as I deactivated my helmet, able to use my telepathy a bit more effectively. The armor I was in was specially crafted to me. Even since I first encountered Austin and stole his prototype armor, my suits have all been equipped with the same technology to block out telepathy and keep it concealed.

The movement of whatever it was I was sensing was incredibly fast. I had no idea why it doing so and no idea it was drawn towards an area near me. But, as I focused on the being, I felt another movement, turning right towards me. Just as soon as I felt it, a faint whir of an engine zooming past was heard over my head.

"Oh shit" I said to myself as I looked up trying to find the ship that passed over. I couldn't find it nor could I see the sky. The trees were thick and I could hardly see anything above them; to make matters worse, I sensed the being was looking for something and that it was near where I was.

"Delta Squad! Get your asses down here, now!" I yelled over the comms as I reactivated my helmet and made a run back for the shore.

Zion was quick to respond, "Damn, one second you were looking for the the thing and the next second the thing is after you?"

Jayce barked at Zion, "That's enough, lets get moving!"

I kept my eyes glued to the tree tops, hoping to catch a glimpse of the fighter. But what I caught was something even worse.

Time seemed to slow around me as I saw two bright green beams of light tear through the tree tops just to the left of me. The ship that was above had found me and began to fire blindly into the trees. The beams hit the ground, exploding and nearly knocking me off of my feet. I continued running, slinging my XSD onto my back and making a sharp turn away from the shore line; hopefully I'd be able to throw it off a little until Delta squad arrived.

I jumped over a rather large tree log and continued running until I stopped at the edge of a two story high cliff. I readied myself to jump, only to be pushed forward by the explosions from laser fire directly behind me.

"Fuck!" I yelled as I was thrown into the air and down to the ground below. I landed hard on my back and was barely able to get up. "God damnit Delta where the fuck are you guys!?" I yelled as I rolled over onto my knees. I got back to up to my feet and continued my run, listening as the ship above zoomed over my head to and fro. The trees in the area were so close together and condensed that I feared I had made the wrong decision in running this way. I was hardly able to sprint and was constantly tripping over roots and ducking below branches.

"Kevin" Jayce said over the comms, "We have a visual on the target, we'll distract it while you get back to your ship."

"Arriba mother fucker!" Jayce suddenly yelled over the comms.

I was somewhat startled by the sudden shift in Jayce's attitude, and I wasn't the only one. I could hear Ryleigh speak under his breath, saying 'dear god'.

I nodded to myself. Turning back towards the shore line, I started to run a little faster focusing on the things around me; thankfully I made it out of the thick part of the trees and was in a more open area. Breaking into a full sprint, the laser fire that was bombarding my surrounding area were now being fired elsewhere in the air. I looked up and saw more ships zooming to and fro, firing at each other and trying to hit the enemy ship. From where I was it seemed that Delta Squad had trouble even landing shots near the enemy ship let alone hit it.

I shook my head and continued running as I hit the beach. I dove into the water and swam quickly to my Arwing. Grabbing onto the edge of the cockpit, I pulled myself down and into the seat, closing the canopy and activating the draining sequence. The water very quickly seeped out of the cockpit and the main systems started up.

"I've made it to the Arwing. How are you guys holding up?" I asked as the ship whirred to life.

Ryleigh yelled slightly as he was nearly hit, "Uh, we're doing great! But could you hurry and get up here?"

I nodded and started the engines. Lifting up from the sea floor, I turned the ship around and blasted off through the water. I need to gain enough speed to launch into the air and convert back into a ship. The engines launched me through the water and I instantly reached the speed I required. I started the sequence and launched into the air; the wings spread back out and the G-Diffuser was set back to maximum power along with the engines.

"Alright" I said as I banked around, facing towards the fight and stopping, "Let's dance!" The engines then burst with power, shooting me forward toward the fray.

I deactivated my helmet so I could get a better grip on the mind of whoever was piloting the ship. I flew right into the fray and saw the fighters next move. Time slowed around me as I felt the thoughts of the pilot. His ship flew right over mine, I closed my eyes and saw his move. Instantly, I banked left, seeing as how he was going to bank right, and opened fire. I landed several hits on the craft, damaging it's shields significantly.

"Nice shot!" Ryleigh yelled as he watched the whole thing unravel in a matter of seconds.

The teachings Krystal gave me were like a miracle. Although I can't really slow time down, it seems as though it is like this. Her father's ways gave me full control of my instincts and reflexes, letting me react to anything thrown at me with such accuracy that it's considered humanly impossible.

"Gotcha ya little prick!" I said as I banked back around. The ship was so much faster than ours that I had a hard time keeping my eye on it, but I had my telepathy with me to turn the tides of this battle.

Feeling the thoughts once more, I sensed the pilots next maneuver. I rolled over and felt time once again slow around me. His ship was headed right for me. He was to pull up to avoid collision and attempt a maximum velocity evacuation. I was ready for it and and reacted in time, rolling back over and pulling up after him. I fired more shots, but this time missed. To my surprise, the pilot dodged them as if he knew they were coming.

As if this pilot was telepathic as well, I felt he was to turn back and head down. I sensed this and followed after him, only to see him turn back and fire right at me. I barely had time to react and barrel rolled just in time to deflect the laser fire.

"Shit!" I yelled as I broke off from the attack.

"Get him!" Myla yelled as the four Arwings converged to chase after the enemy pilot.

I pulled back up and watched as the enemy sped up beyond what I've seen anyone do in atmosphere.

"Fall back" I said with a sigh, "Don't chase him, it's no use!"

Jayce rebuttled quickly, "But we can catch him!"

I shook my head, "He's in maximum velocity, do you really think you're going to catch him?"

I looked up and saw his ship grow smaller and smaller in the sky. I shook my head once more and sighed yet again at the failure of our mission. We were to investigate and eliminate any threat, but the threat has escaped.

"Fox, ya might want contact General Pepper; whatever it was that was down here is gone." I sighed and rubbed my eyes from exhaustion; stretching my telepathy to such an extent wasn't easy, especially for me. "For once, mission is a failure- but this sure as hell isn't the start of more."

Fox nodded, "Don't worry about it, we'll get to the bottom of this."

I shook my head once more as the comm line with Great Fox was cut, "Austin isn't that stupid… is he?" I asked.

Zion mused in on my thought train, "What do ya mean?"

I scratched my head, "He wouldn't use one fighter as a trap… what the hell was he thinking?"

"Maybe Austin was simply lying to you? He probably knew that you would go against him and find a way to completely block out his power." Myla insisted.

I simply shrugged at the thought, "That definitely sounds like what he may have been thinking, but still why send only one fighter? Surely if he has access to such a fast ship he'd send more to easily overwhelm us."

It didn't make sense to me at all. That ship was beyond fast and proved to be an issue even for me, the one with a way of knowing the exact thoughts of the enemy pilot. I knew that Austin had something planned and I wasn't too keen on seeing what it truly was, especially since it has to include Penny one way or another, be it her life at stake or her life already being taken.

It didn't matter to me… we needed to save her.

_To Be Continued…_

I really hope you guys liked this chapter. Lately I haven't been getting as many ideas and haven't been writing as much. Because of this I have one thing to ask you all…

Please… leave a review and tell me what you thought. The constructive criticism helps me so much, so just drop by and tell me what you liked, what you didn't like, or simply give your thoughts on the book so far. Thanks!

Until next time…


	8. A Troubling Discovery

_Welcome back ladies and gentlemen. I know I've been slacking a lot lately and it's only because things have been shifting in my life. I am struggling with jobs, classes, basic stuff like that and also life itself. I still have the passion to write and will continue to do so. Now, let's get on with this story!_

_Also please read the ending authors note as I will be asking a question I need an answer to. It refers to future projects and hopefully you all will agree with what I am going to do. _

_Anyway let's get on with the story!_

**A Troubling Discovery**

Krystal and I began to ponder what happened during the single ship ambush that Austin more than likely coordinated. She and I tried to piece together why the pilot was able to sense my own thoughts and counter anything I threw at him. At first we both had the suspicion that it was Austin piloting the ship, but I quickly dismissed it knowing that Austin would have killed Delta Fox before they even fired upon his ship. The two of us were at this for over an hour after I returned, back and forth with ideas, keeping the investigation away from Fox and the others for the sake of less confusion.

The day was troubling to say the least. I was exhausted and couldn't think straight, the power that I beheld from Krystal was not easy to use and it certainly wasn't energy efficient. Thankfully, Fox had informed me that Rose was able to successfully scan the ship and retrieve coded files, though they were so heavily protected that it would take time for us to get access to it. Of course, I wasn't a fan of the news, though I was happy that I was able to rest.

That night I had trouble sleeping. My mind was full of thoughts about the potential answers we could have from the files we retrieved and the potential intelligence we could use against Austin. At around 2:00 a.m. Cornerian time I was awake in bed, thinking and wondering. To my side was my wife Rose and to my right was my alarm clock, projecting the time a few inches above the base. My mind was restless and my eyes refused to close and get rest. I simply starred at the ceiling, thinking about everything that was happening; another war, Austin being alive, the intel we had, everything.

After another half hour passed I decided that I was to take manners into my own hands. I then got up and headed to the bridge. I scanned the level with my mind, seeing everyone still fast asleep, they were dreaming, and I was the sole being on the ship still awake. I jumped out of bed and opened my bedroom door. Poking my head through I looked up and down the hallway, it was beyond quiet with only the soft hum of the Great Fox's engines audible. The hall lights were shut off and the only light within were a few red lights that lit the hall with a dark but soothing ambience. I stepped out and headed for the elevator, keeping my attention on Krystal specifically; she was in deep sleep though I kept on her to make sure she wouldn't sense my activity. She was a strong woman both physically and mentally, so I knew she would be the only one to figure out that something was amiss.

The elevator doors slid open and I walked in, pressing the button to take it up to the bridge. As the room moved upward, I thought about what it was I was doing. My own patience was getting the best of me, and quite frankly I didn't care on bit; I was going to decode the intelligence and get the information I required to further our mission to eliminate Austin once and for all. Thankfully, Slippy taught me so much about hacking and practiced countless hours with me. I remember when I first joined I told him that computer technology was one of my strengths, so he wasn't hesitant to teach me about hacking and methods to gain access to locked files and such. But in all, it's the hacker that gets the job done, not the method or lesson.

The doors slid open once more and revealed the bridge. The only being inside was ROB 64, piloting Great Fox back towards Corneria. He looked over at me and greeted me with his monotonous voice.

"Greetings Kevin, what is it I can help you with?" He asked me.

I shook my head and headed to the front, just in front of Fox's commanding chair. I stopped and looked forwards towards the front of the bridge, gesturing my hands upwards to bring up a holographic control system. Typing in several commands I logged into the main systems and found the file with the intelligence stored. As soon as I tried to get in it kicked me out due to it being locked by an extremely complex code.

I smiled slightly, "Let's get to work" I said to myself quietly as I gestured my hand upwards once more to bring up another console.

I typed more commands and opened a prompt that connected to the file. As soon as it showed up, I was away, typing various commands and finding a way to get inside of the file. I wrote lines of code trying to get into the system and get the file to unlock. This took me well over an hour before I hit a stroke of luck, bypassing the security and gaining limited access to the file. It wasn't entirely what I wanted but it was enough to get what it was I needed.

Opening one more console to my left, I navigated to the now open file. Within it were more files with names that peaked my interest beyond anything. They had names such as "Prisoner 002", "Plan of Attack", and even a file that was simply named "W.". I entered the Prisoner file and was met with what I thought I would find; information on the status of Penny. According to the file, Penny was still alive, though execution plans were being created.

ROB was quite to speak, "Excellent work, Kevin. Shall I inform the others about the accomplishment?"

"No!" I said quickly, "Uh, no, I'll tell them in the morning. Let them get their rest." I said again in a more calm voice.

The file read "Prisoner 002 has been most cooperative. She has provided us with the info we need to strike Star Fox and rid this universe of that damn Michelson and avenge my own master, Lord O'Donnell. I feel as though she should be kept alive due to her good behavior, however we would never be able to get a striking chance against Star Fox if they were discover that she would be kept alive regardless. Nonetheless, the execution plans are underway, this should prove to lure Star Fox out for us to attack them and finish them off."

I shook my head. I knew that Penny was alive thought I didn't think she would be for much longer, judging by the file we would have a slight extension to our time. Not only this but one of my questions was answered, Austin was targeting the entire team, not only I; oddly enough this somewhat comforted me knowing I wasn't the only target this time around.

Exiting the file and relocating it out of the tampered intel file, I entered another file named "Project Z". This one contained word files and images of blueprints and such. On each blueprint appeared to be the ship that had attacked us on Aquas. It was quite interesting reading the information about this incredibly designed ship. According to the files accompanying the blueprint, the G-Diffuser had no limiter in place, allowing it to reach incredible strengths that no other G-Diffuser could safely handle. Not only this, the ship also had experimental propulsion systems that allowed to reach incredible speeds faster than what our Arwings could handle in atmosphere. It didn't make much sense to me since the Arwings were capable of circling Corneria's radius at the fastest time of a few hours, so it didn't make sense why someone would want to go faster and actually use such speed in combat.

After exiting that file, I relocated it and entered the file named "W.". This file had most of my interest because of its simple name. From what I have experienced and seen, anything with a simple name that was hidden is truly hiding something important that is not meant to be shared. I opened the file and was met with a plethora of images and word files. In front of the images were the words files, showing what appears to be logs from a mission briefing.

The first document read "Your first mission under my control is to travel to Aquas and ambush the Star Fox team, your main target is that wretched Kevin Michelson. Knowing him he will lead the force that will most likely patrol the island that I had lured them to. When you have a reading of Michelson you are to exterminate him with extreme prejudice. I understand that the both of you had served together before, but you serve me now. I am your savior and you owe your life to me. Do not fail me, or consequences will be dire."

I felt my heart drop at the last sentence. The pilot that attacked us served with me? How is it even possible that the pilot was an ally of me specifically? I was worried now, whoever this pilot was he knew my skill and that was why he was able to avoid my moves and attacks, not because he was telepathic or because Austin helped him, but because he knows me.

Hiding behind the file appeared to be an image. The top of what appeared to be ahead was poking out. The head, however, didn't look like that of a canine, feline, or anything else. My curiosity was beyond high and I needed to know who it was that piloted the ship. My mind was on high alert, thinking about who the pilot could be, all the while I felt my heart drop further and further as I felt the emotion inside of me build up.

I tapped my finger on the word file and slowly dragged it out of the way of the image. As more of the head was exposed, I realized what it was I was up against. Bracing myself for the truth, I quickly swiped my finger, moving the word file completely out of the way and revealing the image of the pilot responsible for attacking us on Aquas.

My heart sank even further, "That's not… possible…" I said in a shaky and soft voice as I looked at the image with fear, anger, and confusion. My legs shook as I collapsed to them looking at the picture. Just as I did so, I heard the elevator doors behind me hiss open, though my mind was concentrated on the large image of who used to be an old friend. My mouth was open and my mind was confused, unable to think anything and simply stare.

From behind me I heard a gasp, it was deep and sounded like Fox, though I didn't care to look back at all. I was focused on the large image shown on the main forward holoscreen.

"This…" I said shakenly once more, "… this can't be true…"

The pilots face was clear, he had a full head of hair, and his eyes resembled mine. He had normal ears and his nose was the same shape as me. All of my fear were confirmed; a former ally who assisted the team greatly during the fight against Wolf and was shot down during the final battle.

The pilot was one Lieutenant Woods.

_**To be Continued…**_

Oh would ya look at that? It's a twist in the story! I bet you didn't see this coming huh? Anyway, I really hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. I took my time with this one and made sure it was perfect to be posted. In fact, I had it finished last week, but I felt it to be too repetitive and completely deleted the chapter and re wrote it from the ground up!

So… please leave me a review and tell me how I'm doing. I love hearing from you guys and love hearing what you guys think.

As for chapter 9? I expect it to be finished in about 2 weeks. I'm sorry for the longer writing periods, but it is so that I can provide the perfect story with the perfect amount of detail. Thank you all for understanding… and as always…

Until next time…


	9. A Troubling Discovery Pt 2

Welcome back ladies and gentlemen… I hope you all have had a nice break since chapter 8 . As it stands I have a few twists and some other things, like what is going to happen in the next chapter.

ALSO, I have been placing UPDATES on my profile. It's all nice and clean and easy to read so go check it out and remember check back for more stuff I have to say to you all!

Let's get on with the story…

**Deadly Overextension **

I stood in shock looking at the image of my old friend, falling to my knees in disbelief. I felt so much pain in my body, so much more pain than I have ever felt; more than when I lost so much, more than when I witnessed the death of countless lives. Nothing I have ever experienced has given me this amount of pain, it was unbearable and I couldn't even think on the manner. Fox, who had appeared from the elevator behind me just as I was sent into my state of shock, slowly walked into the room with his eyes fixated on the image.

"Kevin?" He said softly as I sensed him approach me, "Kevin…" he said once more before placing a hand on my shoulder. I couldn't take my eyes off of the image and I could hardly take my mind off if it either.

My head lowered and I looked at my hands, they were open and my mind was still incredibly boggled and hurt by the discovery. Finally I took action and clenched my fists tightly, shaking my hands and slamming them into the floor with a loud grunt. "WHY?!" I yelled as I slammed my fists down. I felt tears slowly roll down my face as I buried my face into my fists, still clenched on the floor, "Why would he…" I stopped, "…he died…"

Fox looked down at me, I could tell that he was at a loss for words. I couldn't blame him at all, the sheer magnitude of this was so much to handle and was too much to even fathom. I wasn't surprised that he couldn't say anything.

Krystal then came running through the elevator doors, stopping dead in her tracks. She saw the image and looked at Fox and I. Immediately she knew what was happening and was at a loss for words as well.

I looked back up and slowly rose to my feet. Staring at the image I felt my pain turn into anger and lust for revenge. Woods was a close ally and one of the two pilots that escaped that massive ambush with me, but if he was so daring and so contempt on killing me, targeting me for Austin, then so be it. He was no longer a friend of mine and he would feel my wrath and see what happens when someone turns their back against the Star Fox team.

I took a deep breath out of anger, "He isn't going to live much longer…" I said under my breath, "… Woods made a mistake..."

Fox nodded slightly, not saying anything and unable to speak. Krystal simply watched and couldn't even think.

"I'm contacting the others… we need to make a plan…" I said as I brought up another console.

Fox finally spoke, "On what information?" he asked, "We have no idea where Austin is or where Woods vanished to. Do you really think I'm going to simply send us in blind with nothing known?"

I reached over to the console that controlled the locked file and showed him the intelligence. One of the files read "Rendezvous", meaning that Woods was supposed to return.

"We need to intercept them before this intelligence becomes useless to us. If we act now then we may be able to catch them at their rendezvous." I said as I pointed to the screen and staring Fox down. "And if we don't then we'll lose them and may never find them again, while also losing Penny.

He shook his head, "Kevin we have no plan and no safe method of engaging Austin directly. What if we show up and he simply renders our bodies useless, paralyzing us with whatever telepathy he has."

My eyes wandered away from his as I thought on the possibility of this happening. What Fox just said was that Austin was virtually invincible, unable to reach, and so much more powerful than even Prometheus was. Attacking him directly was, quite literally, suicide. Then suddenly I felt something click inside of me, something I had forgotten a little too easily. Honestly, I felt embarrassed for forgetting such an immense subject.

"Wait" I said, "Krystal and her teachings… I have a power that can keep that from happening!" I said suddenly.

Fox was a tad bit confused, "Teachings?"

I looked over at Krystal and raised an eyebrow at her; she simply shrugged speaking to me through her mind, "I never told him"

Looking back at Fox, I reached into his mind, "Right now I can block Krystal from entering your mind, easy and effective. As a matter of fact I'm doing it right now and you have no idea. It's a lot to tell you so just bear with me. If I can work this power, exercise it to the point where I can spread this ability then we can safely engage Austin and his men and save Penny, kill Austin and Woods, and win this bullshit fight."

It was true, the only way one can become more proficient at whatever it is they do, they must work at it and practice to push the boundaries of what they used to be able to do. All I needed to do was to practice with my capability of blocking out another essence and hopefully be able to create some kind of telepathic force field, keeping Austin out of the minds of anyone near me.

Fox wasn't keen on the idea. Ever since Austin re appeared, Fox has been extremely cautious about making any moves against him. I couldn't really tell why and it didn't really add up for me; Fox was always leading us into attacks and making the plans to get us closer to winning. Surely Austin was strong, even stronger than Prometheus, but Fox usually was never phased by the power of the enemy.

"Fox" I said as I raised an eyebrow, "Don't tell me that you think this is a bad idea. Think about it, this thing is fool proof. If I can hold Austin back from our minds then we can take him out and get Penny back!"

Fox was still skeptical about it, he was so cautious about it, yet I couldn't find out exactly why. However he accepted it nonetheless, "Fine, we'll contact the others and get the planning phase started." He said as I turned to walk out of the bridge, "And Kevin," he said as I was about to enter the elevator to start my practice, "If this plan fails… we may never be able to eliminate Austin…"

I nodded once in agreement, "You know me Fox… I always have a personal back-up plan."

"Let's hope so" He said as the elevator doors slid closed. He knew exactly what I was talking about when I said "personal back-up plan". If this doesn't work, then, as usual, I will handle it with my own hands.

I was confident that I could do what it was I just promised Fox, but something else was bothering me. There a feeling in my gut that told me something was up with our leader. I realized that Fox was definitely hiding some kind of feeling that I can't get to even with my telepathy, just then I felt him hiding something, something that he obviously didn't want Krystal or I to find out about, be it a feeling or some kind of secret. I didn't remotely think it would be some form of secret he was keeping, I knew he wouldn't do such a thing, but it still bothered me slightly whenever the thought comes to my mind. I almost felt like this thing he was hiding had to do with Austin coming back and his sudden shift in cautiousness. Nonetheless I needed to focus on the mission at hand and train myself to become, essentially, more powerful than Austin.

I felt the elevator start its decent down into the docking bay. Krystal had taught me so much and had entrusted me with Cerinian teachings that are beyond powerful. Ever since she finished with her teaching sessions and I had all the information and skill to use such skills in telepathy, I would go down to the docking bay and go into the virtual training room to meditate, becoming closer to my skill and learning to control the power even more.

**To Be Continued...**

…**Like right now…**

Yup, chapter 10 is already up as well, so go ahead and check it out!


	10. Deadly Over Extension

Oh look! Another chapter! How nice, huh? Well what are you waiting for?

ON WITH THE STORY

**Deadly Overextension**

Some time passed after we discovered who the mystery pilot was. We had come up with a plan that would safely allow us to strike at Austin and stay safe from his telepathy and immense power. It took me about three weeks for me to train my own mind to expand my telepathic powers and utilize them over an area. Beforehand I was only able to block my own mind or someone else's, now I was capable of creating a type of field that could block any minds within. The Teaching of the High Council, as Krystal referred to them as, were telepathy training reserved only for those in the Cerinian Council and meant only for those who could handle such skill. With this and my trained mind, we could easily attack Austin. However, with Woods by his side in some experimental ship it would be a massive struggle. Woods was an extremely skilled pilot in a simple F-16 so I knew that he would be an issue even with Austin blocked from everyone's minds and giving him his own form of telepathy.

Fox had devised the plan and the entire team was mobilized and ready to head into the rendezvous point that Austin was supposedly at. The plan seemed fool proof and the concept was perfect, so I believed that we were going to win this battle and give Austin a run for his money.

I stood in the bridge next to Rose. Fox, Falco, Krystal, and Slippy were in line next to us and facing the front of the ship, ready to brief the rest of the team.

"ROB, open the comm line with the others." Fox ordered.

"Affirmative" the monotonous robot replied.

I looked over at Fox, "Do you think we'll be able to handle this?" I asked as my mind started to doubt the plan. It was odd how I was so enthusiastic about it when I discovered I could be of such assistance, but the whole idea of risking everyone's lives wasn't entirely a good idea to me any longer. Not only that but I didn't know if my own field can withstand another Cerinian who most likely was trained in the Council teachings.

Fox simply nodded his head, "Don't worry, just do what you've practiced and I'll make sure we can make this work." Even with this reassuring, I could feel Fox was somewhat choked up about this mission. I felt that he was incredibly uncomfortable even with his own plan, but disregarded it and put my trust in him.

I nodded once and faced towards the front as the holo screen came up with the feed of Great Fox II. Standing there facing us was Diego Armstrong, Great Fox II's pilot.

"How's it goin boss? The team is all ready for the briefing" he said with a smile on his face. He then stepped away and revealed Bravo through Foxtrot Fox standing in lines.

"Alright" Fox said, "This is the plan, right now we are on course to the rendezvous point that Austin should be at. As you all know, Austin is an extremely powerful being that can utilize a strange form of telepathy, basically using it as a weapon. This mission is so incredibly dangerous that we have some doubts on its succession, however just follow my orders while we are out there and we will come home in one piece." Fox said.

I stepped forward and gave my end of the plan, "As it is, I have exercised my own telepathy and have become slightly more proficient in it. Right now, I am able to create a kind of force field that will keep Austin out. I will stay here on Great Fox, creating the "force field" while Beta and Charlie Fox will head out to space with Fox and the others. The plan is incredibly simple, stick close to Great Fox and you will NOT be affected by Austin's telepathy should he start to use it against us. As for any fighters that may attack, I have created a small program that has already been installed on your Arwing computers. This program will create a dome around Great Fox through your Smart Canopy's, use this dome as a guide as it is the estimated reach of my essence. If you go outside of this dome then you will be at risk of Austin harming and possibly killing you."

Jess the spoke up, "Is this the plan? What about Penny?!"

Fox shook his head and spoke, "Relax Jess, we have more to do besides attack aimlessly from outside." He paused, "Once the fighters have cleared, Kevin will launch out into space with Delta and Foxtrot Fox and keep them safe while they infiltrate Austin's ship and get Penny out safe and sound, unfortunately we will have to retreat immediately so Austin will not be able to harm us."

I cracked my neck, "I will be piloting the transport to get Penny out, however, Delta and Foxtrot should pilot their Arwings just in case we get some more visitors."

Slippy then came forward, "Your HUD's on your armor have been updated with the interior of the ship, thanks to the intel that Rose was able to nab off of Lieutenant Woods' ship."

That name made my heart sink a little, "One more thing I should add…" I said as I shut my eyes in emotional pain, "please… be careful and heed to the warning I gave you all… stay within that dome and you will be safe…"

Everyone nodded simultaneously.

Fox smiled, "Star Fox, let's move."

Great Fox and Great Fox II then entered hyperspace and made the jump to the rendezvous location. Fox and the others exited the room, except for Rose and Krystal.

I sat down in the middle of the floor in the bridge and readied my meditation.

"Kevin" Krystal said, "Just focus and remember what I taught you." With that she walked out and headed for the ship bay. For some reason, I felt doubt in her, though I thought it was simply my mind playing trick on me, being so nervous it made sense.

Rose stayed behind and started to get the comm lines ready for use as well as divert power towards the Great Fox's offensive capabilities.

"Babe" I said as my eyes were closed, "You're not going out there…. Right?"

I could sense her looking at me, "What do you mean?" She asked me with innocence in her voice.

"I mean you won't be going out to the ship with Delta, Foxtrot, and I… yes?" I asked once more.

Rose simply gave a slight sigh as her response.

I opened my eyes and looked at Rose with a serious expression, "Rose, I know that you want to help me in any way you can, and I know that you were a part of my rescue mission when I was captured by Prometheus, but you have no training for ground or air combat. On top of that Austin is an incredibly powerful being that has the lust to kill me. If you were to come for me then he would only target you to weaken me and endanger the mission; the last thing I want is for you to get hurt, or worse, get killed. I love you too much for that to happen."

Rose nodded slowly, "I know… but I feel the same way for you. Don't think you have some kind of unique thoughts and emotions."

I smiled and chuckled, "I understand that, but please, stay on the ship and help Fox and the others when they get back."

She smiled back and nodded slowly, "Fine… just don't die on me."

I chuckled once more and found amusement at the word. I have escaped death so much that it no longer scared me nor filled me with worry.

"I've laughed in the face of death so many times… I promise not to die, babe." I said with a wink before I shut my eyes once more.

Rose walked over to me and handed me a communicator headset. I placed it over my head and activated it, entering the comm channel with the rest of the team and readying the telepathic "force field".

"We're about to exit the jump" Rose said over the comms

Diego then mused in, "I've already scanned the exit point. It looks there is certainly something waiting for us."

I didn't doubt the intelligence was right, however I did doubt the fact that Austin may be waiting for us. For all I knew the only thing there could be Woods waiting to ambush us once more by himself, which I honestly hoped for. If Woods was by himself then we could easily eliminate him and make him pay for betraying us.

"Good" Fox said, "Everyone, get ready to launch as soon as we exit hyperspace."

I started to concentrate all of my energy to my essence and began to build up the energy to create my unique field. Already I could feel it draining my energy, but I knew I was going to be able to withstand it and keep the field up.

"Extending my essence… remember to get that program started when we exit the jump." I said softly. I had the energy built up and my mind was fully concentrated on extending my mind out. The way the field would work would be that my own essence would be spread out in an area, allowing me to reach and block anything using my telepathy, thus providing a sort of force field for telepathy. So much of my energy was being used that I didn't couldn't speak well nor think of what to say. I honestly thought I wouldn't be able to keep it up for long, however I did know that was capable of doing it.

"We're out!" Fox suddenly yelled, signaling me to release the energy and create the field.

I did so and violently released my energy I stored up, reaching out far to ward off any outside telepathy, creating what was "the field". I felt a physical radiation come from my body, as if my energy and essence was so well concentrated that it was really there and visible, which it somewhat was. A form of distortion emitted over my body along with a faint blue radiation.

Outside the ship, extremely faint blue streaks emitted from the bridge of Great Fox, where I was, and reached out until fading into nothing. The streaks moved and shifted slowly, helping me create the "field" to ward off Prometheus.

Just ahead of us were three ships, standing still as if they were waiting for our arrival. One of them was a Dreadnaught sized ship while the other two were much smaller Class 3 sized frigates, they were half the size of Great Fox, but had a bit more firepower equipped.

My mind was fully focused on the area surrounding the Great Fox's. I was so concentrated and had so much of my energy in use that I could "see" the whole area that I was protecting, almost as if I had a camera that could go anywhere and see anything.

"Alright" Slippy said, "The program should execute right now, but if it gets in your way simply deactivate and make sure you don't leave this field or travel too far from Kevin's essence."

Jordan laughed, "Good god we're fighting technology with magic."

Krystal snapped at him rather furiously, "It's not magic. What you see is Kevin spreading out and protecting you! Don't be so foolish."

"Well now" Jordan said, "Excuse me for my lack of education on a topic that seems like magic."

"Enough" I said as I was concentrating. I was hardly able to say it, but I somehow managed to get the words out of my mouth and spoken forcefully.

John, the leader of Beta, spoke up, "Alright, me and my squad will try and cover Great Fox II while you guys make sure Great Fox I is safe."

"Sounds like a plan" Falco mused.

I felt their feelings, all of them were confident and were far from nervous. I, however, was still in doubt. I know this field would work, I know this team has the skill, but knowing Austin and his power I didn't think Fox would be able to handle it, especially since he has been oddly cautious as of late. As it was, Fox relied on his leading skills to handle the enemy and my field to keep Austin out.

"Alright" Fox said, "Beta, stay over by Great Fox II, everyone else stay here and make sure this one is safe. Just focus and make sure not to get shot down."

Jess spoke up, "We won't… we will stop this insane fool and get Penny back." Jess was still enraged by the action we took and waiting to attempt the search and rescue mission, however he was confident and ready to get his sister back.

As I stayed focused on the "field" staying up, I felt an increase in physical beings. More and more beings becoming visible to me. I sensed many people coming towards us, ships all targeting the Great Fox's and the team. I didn't expect it at all and felt my concentration fluctuate as I began to become worried.

"They're coming" I was able to say softly.

Jack laughed and laughed, "Alright, let's kick some telepathic ass!" He was the most energetic in the team, and quite frankly I loved it as it loosened some tension during out missions.

I saw the Arwings all fly forward towards the edge of the field and towards the one massive ship and two frigates, ready to intersect the enemy ships coming towards them. However as the ships neared, I noticed that their numbers were unimaginably large. As they neared, I was clearly able to pick out more and more fighters hiding within the large cluster of fighter. They outnumbered us so much that I started to worry greatly.

"No" I said, "get back now" I warned them.

Immediately the Arwings turned back and headed for the dreadnaught ships.

I felt Rose look over at me, "What's wrong?"

I felt the others starting to get worried, why would I warn them to retreat already?

"Kevin, what's going on? Is the field stable?" Fox asked me frantically.

"Nova" I said as I tried to keep the field in place. I was beginning to struggle, and I hadn't even felt Austin's presence.

"Nova?" Rose asked, "What does that mean?"

Slippy was quick to answer and yelled, as usual when something of importance occurred, "YEEEOW!" he screamed, "Fire a nova bomb at them! Fire a nova bomb!" He said quickly.

Michael spoke up as well, "Oh… god…" he said as he saw the size of the enemy force.

"FIRE A DAMN NOVA!" I said louder.

Rose and Diego didn't hesitate and quickly fired off several Nova bombs each. The large projectiles spread out and zoomed towards their target, I felt the energy that radiated within the projectiles. They detonated as soon as they passed the front line of the enemy ships. I could feel the massive energy being released and I felt the massive loss of life as the intense bomb engulfed almost all of the enemy ships. I sensed about 60 % were killed in the explosive matter blast. I was surprised and regained some faith in the mission. With the nova bombs we had we already wiped out nearly all of Austin's little army.

Falco chuckled, "Man this is already too easy!"

"Don't get cocky Falco, we still have to fight." Fox rebutted.

"Hurry" I said softly, "…no energy" I said a bit weakly.

Krystal quickly spoke, "Oh no" she said with worry, "we need to get rid of these ships right now!"

"Whoa whoa what's the rush?" Falco asked.

Krystal was now the one speaking frantically, "The power that Kevin is utilizing is one that no one can truly master or use indefinitely. It's so strong that he's having trouble maintaining it!"

Jordan gasped very slightly, "So… what you're saying is is that our little shield generator is running out of fuel?"

"Yes!"

I felt Fox instantly shift his emotions.

"HURRY!" I managed to yell.

I felt Fox, he was panicking, his heart beat was fast, and his mind was jumbling up what he should possibly do.

"Fox?" Falco asked, "You okay buddy?"

"THEY ARE CLOSE!" I yelled as well, sensing the remaining forces nearing quickly, now within my essence reach. The field was weakening fast and I was losing control of it. My energy was being depleted so fast that I was forced to stop for fear of me being killed.

All of the sudden, I felt my own mind give in. The blue essence that spread across the Great Fox's disappeared the enemy ships advanced even faster towards us, as if they knew the field that surrounded them was gone.

"FUCK!" I yelled in pain as I fell backwards, gasping for air and watching the ceiling spin uncontrollably. The power was so much for me that I was out of breath, couldn't see straight, and was in pain.

Rose ran over to my side and leaned me forward slightly. Her face had utter fear on it and I could sense that she was deathly afraid of the vulnerability they were now in.

"Kevin is down! I repeat, Kevin and the protective area are down!" Rose yelled into the comms.

Instantly, Fox yelled orders after remaining quiet, "Everyone retreat now! Don't engage that enemy and get back to the ships!"

All the Arwings turned back once more and headed for the Great Fox's, speeding near their top speeds.

"This is not good" Diego said, "Those ships… they're fast… they are going to intercept you before you all make it back to the Great Fox!"

Fox ignored the warning, "Who cares, just get back to the ship. Get the hyperspace drives ready to launch as soon as we all land!"

"Sir" Diego tried to reason, "those ships are far too fast. They will surely reach us before we can even think about jumping!" he said, "Fox you've got to fight."

Fox, still being stubborn, ignored Diego, "Just make it back to the ships!"

"Fox!" Rose yelled, "It's a shitty situation but you need to fight! You don't have a choice! We need to either fight them as is or risk being killed before we jump!"

"Would you rather us being killed out here? Or us having a chance of surviving on the ship!" Fox yelled back at her.

I simply stared at the ceiling, waiting for it to stop spinning and for me to regain control of my mind. It was if I had paralyzed myself, unable to say or do anything other than watch and listen. It was eerie to be like that and I felt like complete shit for failing to keep the team safe and now putting them in the most dangerous position possible.

"THAT'S IT!" John suddenly yelled, interrupting the little fight Fox, Rose, and Diego were having. Little did I know that the fight would shift towards them, "You guys keep heading to the ships; we'll distract these fuckers and buy you all time to escape."

Coby mused in, "Wait, that isn't part of the plan!"

Fox remained silent when John said this. I was finally able to speak and slowly got up to my feet. "Listen, none of this needs to happen!" I was able to say rather loudly. I felt my energy coming back rather quickly.

"You…" I said before Sarah then stepped in,

"Don't worry, it's fine Kevin, we can keep them off of you all."

Michael then spoke up, "Just make sure you all make it out alive!"

Jack then sighed slightly, knowing that this was his final run and his final attack, "Well, we did have a good time with you guys. I think that it's fair we pay you all back for welcoming us with open arms."

I felt John's emotions turn from fear to sorrow and happiness. He had the mixed emotion, but he controlled them well and I felt that he and the others on Beta truly wanted this. Regardless none of that needed to happen, they were all forgetting everything!

"We first met you as a rookie, Kevin, back at the training simulators. We were welcomed as a sole squad during the Prometheus attack, and now we were welcomed as Star Fox members. This needs to be done, as a thank you." John said with his voice shaking ever so slightly.

I looked out and saw the Arwings all pass by the Great Fox's, but saw four of them turn around beforehand and go back towards the enemy fighters. I was at a loss for words as I was the only one trying to get them to stop their own suicide mission, while Fox and the others remained silent.

"God damnit I will not see more of my own team mates die right in front of me!" I yelled over the comms, "You're all fools!"

"Alert, Beta Fox weapons have been engaged" ROB said. I looked over at him.

"Do not engage! Beta Fox, do you hear me? DO NOT ENGAGE!" I yelled frantically, trying desperately to save the lives of my own team mates, "ROB, can you override their Arwings and bring them back this way?" I felt my heart sink slightly, I can't get them to change their minds and I wasn't able to bring them back.

"Negative, remote operation is not possible" ROB said, "All ships with the exception of Beta Fox have been accounted for and have safely landed in the landing bay."

Diego came over the comms, "All ships have landed"

Fox came running into the bridge, "Beta Fox, whatever you do, make sure none of those ships break off and chase after us!"

I looked at Fox with disgust "WHAT?! YOU IDIOT!" I yelled as I heard him give orders for Beta Fox to stay and fight.

John spoke and smiled, "Not a problem sir"

Michael cracked his neck and his knuckles, "Let's see how many I can down before they get me."

Fox then started to type various commands, readying the ship to go into hyperspace back to Corneria. I simply watched him in disgust as he did so.

"Fox, what in the hell are you doing?! You're just going to let them die?! THEY…" I yelled. He continued to type and prep the ship for hyperspace, as if I wasn't even there speaking and yelling at him, "I am fucking talking to you, damn it!"

Fox finally looked at me, "We won't make it if they come back!"

My eyes widened in horror, "

"Great Fox II ready for jump" Diego said over the comms.

I slammed my fist on the arm of the captain's chair, "BETA FOX, GET YOUR ASSES BACK HERE NOW! YOU HAVE…" I yelled once more, before Fox silenced me by shutting off the comms, "WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING?" I yelled frantically as I tried to reopen the comms. Fox only watched me with no emotion.

I watched as small explosions riddled the battlefield in front of us. I watched in horror, looking at the ship feeds for beta Fox right next to the front bridge display. As I watched, I saw one of the Arwings turn from green to red, and a message in large red letters appear over it reading "Down". The name next to it read "Sarah".

"No…" I quietly spoke under my breath, feeling everything around me fade away, "Oh god no…"

Another Arwing went red, Michaels. And then another one, Jack's. And then the final one, John's.

I felt tears roll down my cheeks as I watched in pure horror. Four Arwings down, four pilots gone, four lives lost, all because of the orders and ignorance from Fox. Anger quickly built to unimaginable extents inside of me.

"NO!" I yelled loudly as I dropped to my knees and slammed my fists into the ground. "NO!"

I felt Fox looking at me as well as Rose. I could sense what Fox was feeling, he felt no sorrow and had no regrets for what it was he did. In his mind, it was all that could have been done.

I slowly lifted my head and looked over at the vulpine. He simply stared at me with a blank expression on his face. For once, I couldn't even stand to look at Fox.

"You…" I said softly, getting back up to my feet, "You… killed them…"

My emotions were out of control, I couldn't feel anything but anger.

"You sent them out there…" I cracked my neck, "… and you killed them. YOU KNEW THEY WOULD MAKE IT! YOU KNEW THEY HAD THE CAPABILITIES!"

I, very suddenly, slammed my right fist back into the ground, in the position that activated my armor. A blue flash emitting from me as my armor was instantly teleported. I slowly got back up and stared at Fox.

"You…" I said, "... you knew they would die… you knew they could make it…" I said in broken sentences, trying to regulate the immense anger I was feeling.

"They could have easily made it back… but you followed their plan of trying to fight by themselves. You let them die alone and without help!" I continued yelling. I could sense more presence coming up to the bridge, Krystal and the others were on their way.

A small hatch on my right forearm opened and my staff protruded slightly from it. Grabbing it slowly, I looked at Fox, "They could have made it, Fox. I told you we had no choice but to fight together, but you… you agreed that Beta fought by themselves to buy us time we didn't neeed!" I said as I thrust my arm down, extending my staff in both directions.

"You're ignorance and fear blinded you… you pathetic vulpine! The Arwing's have hyperdrives! They could have LIVED!" I screamed as I charged forward towards Fox, swinging my staff at him.

I swung downwards at Fox's head. He dodged it and my staff's end met the floor. I followed it up by swinging the staff back around and trying to side swipe Fox. He bent back and narrowly dodged the staff. I swung it back around once more and swung diagonally at Fox, landing a clean hit.

"KEVIN STOP!" Rose yelled.

Krystal then came bursting into the room, "ENOUGH, KEVIN STOP!"

I swung once more from the right, barely missing Fox, "YOU NEVER NEEDED TO COME BACK TO THE SHIPS!" I yelled as I attacked Fox over and over again. I spun my staff around and landed one last hit on Fox before a fell back onto his knee. I jumped back and had my staff in a ready position as Fox stumbled slightly with his hand over the right side of his face.

Falco then rushed to me, trying to disarm me. He grabbed my staff with both hands and tried to rip it away from me. I then spun around and flung him off, causing him to land off to the side, "Get the fuck off of me!" I yelled as I did so. "I don't know what it is you're hiding, McCloud" I looked over at him and pointed, "Whatever you are hiding, we need to know right now…" I stopped, took a deep breath and exhaled slowly, trying to regain my posture.

"You've been so FUCKING cautious as of late. You didn't like any plans, you froze up in battle just now… and you sent your own team to their graves WHEN THEY DIDN'T NEED TO!" I said forcefully. "What more can I say…"

I retracted my staff and placed it back in my right forearm compartment. Fox wouldn't speak, and simply looked at me with his hand over his face.

"I promised myself I would have you tell us, but you don't want to. So…" I said before I dove into his mind, using my telepathy as an offensive ability. I caused Fox pain, forcing him to scream in pain and fall to the ground.

"KEVIN!" Krystal yelled.

"You know he's been acting weird Krystal! We need to know why he would do all of this!"

Fox finally spoke, "Fine!" He said as he grunted in pain. I released him and let him speak.

"Ever since Austin came back, I feared for the lives of everyone. I knew that he was capable of nearly killing anyone he encountered and only thought he was stronger, I didn't want to risk everyone's lives only to be killed in the process!" He said quickly, "He nearly killed Krystal, damn it, I'm sure he could easily kill all of us!"

"And yet, you accepted Beta Fox and sent them to their graves…" I said softly, "The Arwings have hyperdrive capabilities, McCloud, something that would have saved them, yet you forgot and kept me from telling them" I raised an eyebrow, "They could have escaped with you all in your Arwings… but you were too focused on getting back to the ship. You clouded your own mind because of this."

I felt another tear roll down my face, "Now…" I said ever so softly, "…now Beta Fox is dead…" I shook my head once "For once" I spoke softly, "I can't even stand to look at you…" I stormed out of the bridge in anger and disgust. Slippy, Krystal, Rose, and Falco remained silent, embarrassed that they were so blind and lost a close squad as a result.

As I walked down the hall and slammed my fist on the wall, I whispered quietly to myself, "I guess now I have to do this... alone…"

**To Be Continued…**

See? A twist! Fox is made the bad guy and Beta Fox was tragically shot down in the process.

I really hoped you guys enjoyed this chapter. Please leave a review and tell me what you guys thought of it. I love hearing from you all, so please give me some feedback.

Anyway, I hope to see you all in the next chapter!

Until next time… friends…


	11. The Final Ooh Rah

**The Final Ooh Rah **

I sat in my room, laying on my bed and looking up at the ceiling. Thinking about what had just unfolded and thinking about the loss of Beta Fox. I just couldn't believe that they all forgot about the Arwing's emergency hyperdrives, capable and taking them away in the case of an ambush or overwhelming attack. I couldn't believe that Fox was so quick to send our best squad, our best friends, to die… it made me unimaginably angry every time I thought about it and I simply couldn't handle it.

"How many allies have I witness die?" I asked myself quietly, "How many more must I see before it stops?" I spoke even softer. I felt a tear roll down my face. Just the thought of Beta Fox gone was so much, I couldn't handle it. It was just like a hole was being punched right through my heart whenever I think about them, Fox being so selfish, and the helplessness of this mission. Austin was becoming stronger and stronger by the minute and we couldn't do anything about it besides watch and hope for some kind of miracle to occur. All the years I've been with the team, advancing with them and becoming a great fighter, and yet we couldn't stop Austin.

I closed my eyes, and felt my mind drift off as I began to flashback back to when I first joined Star Fox. That was a day that I will never forget, the day that I was asked to come with the man I thought was only a figment of someone's imagination. That day I knew my life would start anew, but I never thought I would suffer so much just to have it the way I envisioned it.

"I want you to come with me" I heard Fox's voice echo. I saw him sitting on my couch back home, smiling at me with his eyes fixated on the covered Arwing outside in my yard.

"You're serious?" I heard myself ask, "I… I'm…" I saw myself standing in front of Fox, falling back in the chair in disbelief at the thought of my life possibly starting over for me to make right. "Absolutely! It'd be an honor!"

I sighed to myself. I was so naive and anxious that I didn't think about the consequences that would come of this; the endangerment of my own planet, my own life, and the lives of others. I never anticipated that I would witness death, fight for my life over and over again, and have to cope with the new ways of my life. Albeit I had little issues with my new life in terms of living the way it was meant to be, but I never thought that the death, the fighting, and the sacrifices would be so damaging to me.

My mind drifted even further. Back when I first met Austin. "You two are staying right here." I heard my voice echo once more. I was now standing in what looked like a holding area for prisoners, jail cells spanning several levels on each side of the room. Two armored guards sitting in one cell as I stood with a rifle and nothing but my under armor, disgust and anger on my face.

I then saw myself standing with a rifle aimed at the guard's head, ready to fire if he cried for help. "What's the fucking code?!" I heard myself yelling before I saw a black suit of armor being lowered before me. The suit opening up like some sort of transforming machine and allowing me to step inside of it.

My mind then drifted to the one and only fight that Austin and I had. Krystal and I against the last Cerinian besides Krystal. Fighting greatly, trying to counter his own telepathy and kill him, only to be bested by him and nearly killed.

"KRYSTAL!" My voice echoed largely as a new scene faded into my vision. The blue vixen laying on the floor motionless as a white vulpine stood over her, blood on his knuckles and a large horrifying smile on his face. I watched as I stood up myself and charged for the man, fists blazing and anger driving my mind to the vengeance that I was seeking.

I opened my eyes slowly, looking back up at the ceiling and forcing my flashbacks to end. So many things were on my mind, so many little thoughts, so many little emotions, and so many feelings running through me. Death, hatred, sorrow, anger, and the lust for revenge were all I could think about and the only things I cared about.

"So much has happened..." I said to myself, "…we can't even fight a telepathic…" I stopped myself dead in my tracks.

"Wait…" I said once more. I was slapped in the face by a sudden realization. "Oh god…" My telepathy isn't strong, but it was capable of becoming a weapon, much like Austin's. My field I created wasn't perfect, it only blocked a form of telepathy. But, it was nowhere near as secure as what Austin could create or go against.

Beta Fox's death was not by the hands of Fox. It was not by the hands of the others.

"Oh my god…" I dug my face into my hands in pure horror, "…the mission was all suicide…" I said, realizing that Austin actually penetrated my protective barrier and manipulating the team's memory. It was no wonder Fox and the others were so focused on saving themselves and not using the hyperdrives or helping Beta Fox. "Why didn't I see this…" I spoke softly as I felt complete embarrassment and shame overcome my mind; not only did I fail to protect the team, but I even attacked Fox on the account of him causing the death of Beta Fox. None of that was true, it was all Austin using his telepathy and my failure to keep him out. My weakness and ignorance was what caused the death of our close friends and best squad.

I slowly walked out of my room and headed back for the bridge. I couldn't believe any of it, I simply couldn't! My mind shifted from Beta Fox's death to the fact that I harmed Fox and wrongfully accused him and the others of leaving Beta to die at the hands of Austin. Shame from not being capable of protecting the team and coming up with this mission, basically being a suicide attempt overwhelmed my mind. The more I thought on this, the more I found reason for me to blame on Beta Fox's death; if I had practiced more, if I had come up with a safer plan, if that plan hadn't even existed, Beta Fox would still be here with the team alive and well. The only reason why the plan went through was because Fox trusted in my power to keep them safe, when in truth it did absolutely nothing.

The doors to the bridge slid open. Fox and others looked over at me as I lowered my head to the ground. I felt Fox's emotions, he was embarrassed and felt the same amount of shame I had felt, almost as if he had a complete shift in emotions.

"I have only myself to blame for this…" I said softly as I entered the room. Instantly I felt everyone become confused and wonder what it was I had meant, "… Fox, please, forgive me."

"What do you mean?" Fox asked with subtlety in his voice, "Why would you think this is your fault? Explain to me why you are to blame."

I looked up and walked over to him. I placed my hand on his shoulder and journeyed into his mind. Immediately I could tell that he was tampered with by an outside source, meaning Austin really did find a way around my protective essence.

I looked around at the others, "None of this was your faults. If anyone is to blame for the death of Beta, it's me."

Krystal shook her head slowly, "Kevin, why would you think such a thing."

"I!" I said rather loudly, stopping and speaking at a lower tone "…couldn't protect you all. My little 'barrier' was completely futile against Austin." My voice trembled slightly, the thought of the plan, the death, and the hopelessness of fighting overwhelmed me, "I came up with this plan to attack with me keeping Austin out of your heads, but it never worked!" I shook my head, "Why would you all forget about the Arwing's emergency systems? Why would you all let Beta Fox stay behind?" I asked repeatedly, "My essence never protected you, Austin bypassed it with ease and MADE you all forget, he MADE you all feel the way you felt just then!" I paused, tears rolling down my face, "This plan only exists because I had the audacity to think I could be as strong as Austin and keep you all safe! I can't even do that against this fucker!"

Krystal's eyes widened in horror, "You mean…"

I nodded my head slightly, "He's using telepathy that neither of us can even fathom…" I shook my head and threw my arms up in confusion, "As of now I know of only one way of killing this… thing."

Fox spoke up rather suddenly, "You're right, we're going to devise another plan and we're going to see if we can discover a flaw in his power."

It was silent for a second. I broke it as I slowly began to laugh, quickly breaking into a hysterical laughter. The idea of Austin's power being so much, any attack would be worthless, "No…" I said mid laugh. I calmed myself and took a deep breath, "WE aren't going to do anything… I am."

Falco chuckled, "Whoa whoa, don't make me laugh Kev, I've been through a bit to do that."

Slippy sniffled and wiped his face from tears, his voice shaking vigorously, "Yeah, come on Kevin. We just lost someone, we don't want to lose another."

I looked back at the avian, "I'm not joking. I told Fox that I would handle this if the idea didn't work out and if the plan failed miserably. It did, and we lost Beta Fox as a result. I am to blame, I made the plan, I made the promise of protecting, and I was blind to the possibility of Austin completely negating my protective essence." I said with determination in my voice. I was serious, Austin was to die by my hands, just as he did before. "I'm going back, and I'm doing it myself. I wasn't affected by Austin at all, I still had my memory, I still had my own mind. I can protect myself from him." I paused, "The last time I blocked his telepathy in a one on one fight, I broke his back and snapped his neck. I have so much more power than before, I have teachings by my side that are incredibly powerful, think of what I can do to him now." With that I turned and left the bridge. Rose didn't oppose my plan, Krystal didn't try to stop me, and I could feel that Fox was hopeful and knew that I would come back. In other words, they believed that I could end this once and for all, before it turned into a war against a god.

As I walked out and down the hallway, I could still hear the other speaking, faintly and softly as the walls dampened their volume.

"So, you're going to let him go out and kill himself?" I heard Falco say rather loudly.

Fox chuckled slightly, "The day I asked him to join I knew he would become something that no one would dare oppose. I was right, and I feel he can do this. You yourself have seen what Kevin is capable of." I could sense the trust he still had in me and the hope that he held onto. Regardless of the fact that we just failed a mission and lost our best squad in the process, he still believed in my potential and power.

"You trusted him to protect us, and he failed, you think he can take everyone one of those ass hats by himself?" Falco argued.

Slippy mused in as well, trying to protect me and go against my decision, "Austin is so god like that I don't think Kevin can actually protect himself. Sure he wasn't affected just now, but what if Austin did that on purpose to lure him out?!"

I stopped in my tracks, waiting for Fox's response. I listened intently, waiting to hear my leader's words.

"Kevin is much more powerful than any of us." Fox said, "He destroyed a planet, killed a power hungry being with god-like powers once, and defeated our arch nemesis that we had been hunting for years." He sighed, "I think Kevin is capable of doing whatever the fuck he needs to do."

I smiled at the words. Fox really believed in me and I had all the more reason to go out there and take down Austin once and for all.

Heading into the elevator I began to wonder. Austin had a large attack force, however it was dwindled greatly thanks to the Nova bombs that Diego and Rose had fired. Based on the amount of loss I had felt, I expected there to be at least 100 of Austin's men still alive, not counting his guards on-board his ship.

As the elevator doors slid open, I slammed my fist into the ground and activated my flight suit. The white, slightly armored, one piece smart suit instantly beamed onto my body, activating and doing what it did. Two lights, one on each of my hand that extended p my arm, and one on my back activated signaling that its bio systems were active and ready to go.

I ran to my Arwing and jumped up, opening the canopy and starting the systems. Typing various commands I started every system I had, even AI, whom I had stopped using after I had trained in my telepathy. The only system I kept off, however, was the communications array. I was doing this alone and only relied on AI, my telepathy, and my Arwing combat skills to get me through this.

"Welcome back AI" I said as the computer started.

"Oh? Captain Michelson? What seems to be the cause of my activation?" AI asked.

I smiled, "God I forgot how advanced you were. I activated you for one reason, I'm going to need your help."

"I was created to do just that." AI replied.

I smiled even more, "Great, as soon as I exit my hyperspace jump we will do in a few, I want you to run a bio scan of the area we're in as well as any other scan you have equipped."

AI replied quickly, "Affirmative, I'll do so as soon as we exit the jump."

I nodded, "Good"

With that I initiated the launch sequence and released the lift lock on the Arwing. The ship lowered slightly and the small walkway besides me were lifted up and away from the ship, sent into the safe position.

"Kevin" Fox said over the bay speakers. I looked up and around the bridge, listening intently, "Go kick some telepathic ass"

My ship then lunged forward as it was shot out of the Great Fox and into space. The wings expanded and the Arwing was now in my control.

"AI, set the coordinates to the previous hyperspace jump vector. I'm assuming you have the data stored from a few minutes ago?" I asked.

"I do, the coordinates were stored it appears. They have been placed and hyperspace is available." AI replied.

I steered my ship and looped around, passing Great Fox I and II towards the hyperspace vector to return to Austin's rendezvous point.

"Pardon me, but it appears more ship signatures have appeared." AI suddenly said just before I launched into hyperspace.

I looked around, speaking to myself softly, "More ships?"

"Yes," AI replied, "They appear to be Arwings."

I sighed and knew exactly what it was, "Oh no…"

"Opening communications channel with the group…" AI said as it started the comms array and opened the channel.

A few familiar faces were on the other end of the HUD displays.

"So, where do you think you're goin?" Jayce asked me with a stern look on his face, "I certainly hope you aren't going to complete the mission we made by yourself."

I sighed again in frustration.

Myla giggled slightly, "Come on Kevin, don't give us a plan and then expect for us to simply give up on it."

Ryleigh then coughed, almost as if he was in a fit of nervousness, "I mean, it's our job right? We do what it is we're told and we do it well."

I shook my head, "Guys, you can't…" I said, "… you saw what just happened. My entire plan failed miserably. I can't protect you all against Austin, he's just going to do something worse and possibly kill you all."

Zion let out a huge belly laugh, "Ah my friend, we're not going to let you fight this monster by yourself. Like it or not we're coming with you. Besides, my mini gun wants to shoot some of those freaks!"

I thought about the possibility of me being able to strengthen my essence in a smaller area, rather than a large one. Maybe if I made a smaller barrier it would be strong enough to hold Austin back and keep Delta and Foxtrot Fox safe. I sighed at the thought but knew I had no choice in the matter.

"Fine" I said, "I know I won't get you to change your minds, so you're coming with me. All of you need to stay close to me and I will try to keep you all safe. If you're closer to me then my field may be stronger and may keep Austin out."

Jayce smiled and nodded once, "Deal"

I smiled and looked over at the feed for Foxtrot, "And, uh, sorry Foxtrot. I know you guys have seen almost no action since this started."

Foxtrot's leader, Cayden Armstrong, simply smiled, "Don't worry about it, we're still able to fight. Besides we had plenty of action back during the fight against Prometheus; the Lombax's certainly knew how to fight."

"That they did" I replied. It was a shame that we couldn't contact Ratchet and the others to assist in this as well. For some reason our communications was smashed after something on their end caused their communication form to be severed with us.

"Coordinates punched in and ready to go!" Jayce said with a smile and a thumbs up.

I nodded, "Everyone ready? Stay close to me when we get out and don't even attack the ships. I want to try something when we come out of jump."

Another teaching Krystal had shown me was something that could get rid of someone's attention to something. By going into their mind, I could force their attention away from me, making me "invisible" to that particular person, regardless if I was standing right in front of them. If Delta and Foxtrot was close enough to me, then I could possibly make the enemy pilots not see us and completely negate their attention of us.

All 9 of our ships lurched forward as we instantly sped to the speed of light, heading straight for the rendezvous point.

"Here's the plan. When we arrive, I will try to make us 'invisible' by diverting all of the enemy pilot's attentions. When we land, Delta and Foxtrot will head straight for the holding cells to retrieve Penny, if she is still alive."

Jayce cut me off, "Which she is! I know she is."

"Right, I can still feel her essence, but I fear it may be a fraud made by Austin. Regardless, you and Foxtrot will retrieve Penny. While this is happening, I will be heading towards Austin, diverting his attention and keeping him from harming you when you're getting Penny."

"Sounds like a plan" Myla said with glee in her voice.

Before we arrived, I had started to focus the energy I needed to make the field and expand my essence to keep the two squads safe. It was going to be a smaller area, so I didn't use all of my energy.

Almost instantly did we come out of hyperspace and back into the rendezvous point. The three large ships were still present as well as the large amounts of enemy ships still swarming around like insects.

"Alright, stick close to me" I said, "I'm about to go silent. AI, autopilot and land in the main ships landing bay. Make the path as straight as possible and at decent speeds. Everyone else get close now."

I focused the energy and made my essence barrier. I could feel that it was incredibly strong, in fact it was so strong that my energy wasn't being depleted at all, it was simply being maintained because the barrier wasn't able to become any stronger, thus allowing me to keep my energy conserved.

The 8 other Arwings flew close and stayed in a tight formation around my ship. We slowly flew towards the main ship and closer to the enemy fighters.

I stayed focused and paid close attention to the thought patterns of the fighters. When we were close enough I reached out and negated the pilots' attentions, making our formation invisible to them. I then noticed that their thought patterns shifted to alert. They had seen us, but now they couldn't, making them alert and worried. They flew over to where we were a few seconds ago and tried to look for us in open space.

"Well now" Ryleigh chuckled, "Who knew you could look so hard when you're in the middle of deep space?"

We continued forward until we were right behind the main ship, ready to land. I released my grip on the pilots' minds and focused my energy back to the barrier I had been making. AI landed my ship and the others followed suit.

I loosened my energy usage to a minimal and stopped producing the barrier. I waited a minute for me to regain my mental stability. The powers I was taught may use little energy, but regardless, they require so much attention and take a lot out of me just to use them.

I shook out of my state of trance and jumped out of Arwing. As I landed, I slammed my fist into the ground, activating my armor and replacing my flight suit; the white armor plates covered my body and my hands were encased in gloves. The armor doubled as an exoskeleton, giving me added strength and stamina.

"Alright, you all know the drill." I said as I grabbed my D-9 Rifle from my back magnetic plate, "Let's finish this damned fight and keep Beta Fox's death from being in vain."

Everyone else jumped out of their ships and readied themselves. They all had their armor and their weapons ready.

"Good luck" I said before I turned and ran up the steps beside me to the upper level of the landing bay. I looked back and saw all 8 of the others run through the door on the bottom floor, leading them towards the holding cell.

I activated my helmet and loaded the interior map of the ship. Right away AI mapped a route that would take me directly to the bridge, where Austin was supposedly waiting for me. I could sense his presence and knew that he was in fact on the ship and waiting for me to burst through the bridge doors guns blazing.

"Scans have been made" AI said, "I read several bio signatures on board the ship, however their exact locations are not known."

"Eh" I said as I continued down the corridor with my rifle raised, "Don't worry too much about that. I think I can handle anyone I see, or sense."

There was a cross in the corridor that lead left and right. The path on my minimap told me right, however I could sense a large presence of enemies down the path; on the left were hardly any signs of life.

"Hmm" I said as I looked down both ways, "Which way is the better way…"

AI quickly replied to my self-questioning, "The right corridor is the only known path that can lead to the bridge."

I sighed and lowered my head, "Great… looks like we'll be fighting before we get to Austin."

I started to jog down the corridor. "And to think I thought we would be able to head straight for Austin." The path led through a door at the end on the left. This door led into a room that was teeming with life; I sensed so much that I couldn't really 'see' it.

"Alright" I said as I grabbed a grenade and armed my rifle into fully auto mode, "Let's see how many of these fuckers I can get."

I shot the keypad to the right of the door, causing it to shoot up and open, revealing what appeared to be a mess hall. As soon as the door opened, I armed the grenade and lobbed it inside. Everyone then scurried, trying to get to their weapons.

"What's up you sick sons a' bitches!?" I yelled as I started to fire. Very quickly was I able to mow down almost the entire room of enemies before I retreated back behind the wall for cover. Some of them had made it to their weapons and began to fire back. Thankfully, I had killed enough to tell the difference between one mind and another; I scanned the room with my telepathy and pinpointed the exact locations of the remaining hostiles.

I felt my mind fly through the room, physically being able to see it and the ones within. Two were behind a table towards the right of the door, another was behind a table as well, but towards the center and a bit further back. Two others were behind the food table with their weapons drawn over the glass.

I opened my eyes and readied myself. Sticking my rifle out from cover, I blind fired into the room, aiming directly at each of the hostiles and landing each and every hit, without ever coming out of cover. Several thuds were heard from the room, causing me to come out of cover and assess the damage; every hostile in the room had been killed.

"I'm reading no scans of life in this room." AI said after it scanned the room, "All hostiles are eliminated within the general area."

"Awesome" I said as I ran through the back door, continuing forward toward the bridge. I continued running until I made it to a large room. A large metallic door with two guards on either side of it awaited on the end of the room, both of these guards were armed with rifles and large spears on their backs and encased in what seemed like exoskeleton suits.

"Well now" I said as I deactivated my helmet, "What do we have here?"

I quickly mentally scoped the room in front of me. I felt 2 separate essences inside, presumably Austin and another guard, possibly an elite that is far more skilled than the previous guards.

"So, the other guy inside the bridge" I said to the two guards who had their rifles drawn on me, "is he some kind of elite bodyguard? If so I can't wait to fight him."

The left guard snapped at me, "Too bad you won't make it to him."

I raised an eyebrow, and re activated my helmet, "Oh really? You know I thought you two would be smart, but apparently you don't know who I am nor do you know what it is I'm about to do to you."

Both guards armed their rifles.

"Well now, come on, how about this. You two against me in a fist fight, or a spear fight if you so choose." I said as I tried to persuade the guards. I was indeed in a predicament as I had no cover to go to if the two opened fire.

The two guards looked at each other.

"Come on" I said as I dropped my rifle to the ground, "A good old fashioned fight, none of that shooting nonsense."

For some reason, my playful side began to show as it does on missions that involve incredible risks and ridiculous odds.

The two guards then slowly lowered the rifle and dropped them, letting them fall to the ground with a loud thud. They then both grabbed their spears from their backs and activate them. Electricity flowed and electrocuted the tips of their weapons.

"Oh that's pretty neat" I said, "Electric staffs, not bad." I then shot my right arm up, launching my own staff into the air. It extended to full length and I caught it with style, spinning it around my body multiple times and ending in my ready stance. "Now then" I said as I activated the fire essence in my staff, causing both ends to ignite in a blue flame. "shall we dance?"

The two guards then let out a war cry and sprinted for me. I readied myself and prepared for their attack. Scanning their minds I spun my staff and around and ended by holding it out in front of, deflecting both the guards downward jump strike. They pushed against me and tried to get me to the ground, however I countered it easily by sliding towards them and ducking under their staffs, moving nimbly behind them. The two stumbled as they hadn't expected their weight to give in so suddenly. I turned back towards the two and spun my staff around, landing a clean hit to the face of the right guard. The left guard was able to stumble to his feet before I could hit him and managed to dodge the swipe.

I swung his staff from the right. I dodged it and leaned to the right, allowing it to barely hit me. I came back up and followed up with a spin kick to the guard's side. Using the momentum from the spin, I spun once more, jumping and landing a clean and hard hit to the guard from above. The guard stumbled back and aimed his staff at me, firing a bolt of electricity at me. I anticipated the move and ran towards him, jumping into the air with a side spin to dodge the bolt. As I landed on my left foot, I spun with my staff extended and swept the guard's feet from under him, causing him to land on the ground hard. Very swiftly, I followed up with a good swipe to his head, knocking him unconscious, as I did with the other guard. Even with the amount of lust for blood I was feeling, I didn't have it my heart to end the guards' lives, after all I toyed with them.

"Lucky sons of bitches" I said as I walked away and towards the metallic door. I retracted my staff and placed it back my arm piece, then picking up my D-9 rifle. I walked up to the control pad and fired several times at it, causing the large door to open slowly and eerily. I walked back and stood right in front of it, waiting for it to finish.

Inside, I saw Austin standing with his back towards the door. No one else was inside and all the seats with displays at them were empty.

"Kevin" Austin said As I slowly walked in with my rifle drawn, "I've been waiting for you. And by what it looks like…" he chuckled, "your friends will be too… they'll be waiting for you to die as soon as I finish them."

My emotions suddenly shifted to pure anger and my lust for blood was back, "I DON'T THINK SO!" I yelled as I reached into Austin's mind. I felt it, he was already harming Delta and Foxtrot Fox, thankfully none of them had been killed yet. As he did this, I reached into his mind, deep into it, and shut him out of his own power, I used a special disabling technique used in the teachings of the Council that was meant to temporarily block the usage of telepathic powers. Austin fought back, but I had the upper hand and element of surprise, he had not anticipated the attack and wasn't prepared for it.

"ARGH!" Austin yelled in pain as he stumbled back and nearly feel to his knees. He held his head in pain and slowly looked back at me, "Clever human…" he snarled softly, "… you may be strong, with the council teachings on your side… but you can't kill me!" He said as he then sprinted towards me.

I then unleashed a barrage of bolts at him, nearly hitting him several times and hitting him only twice. As he got close, showing no signs of letting up, I threw my rifle to the ground and reached back into his mind. Using another technique that caused immense pain; I reached into his mind and rendered his motor skills useless, Austin fell to the floor, almost paralyzed yelling in pain. He landed mere inches away from me.

I kneeled down slightly, "You know what? You pathetic Cerinian?" I said softly, "You should have stayed dead the first time."

I could hear him snarling in pure anger, "And you should die with me!" He yelled as he swiped at my feet, causing me to land on my back. He then jumped up onto me and began to hit me over and over. Suddenly, out of nowhere, someone came from the side and tackled Austin to the ground and off of me. I rolled over and grabbed my face in pain. "Argh, shit that hurt." I said softly.

Over my back I could hear a struggling voice, a female voice to be exact. I slowly stumbled back to my feet and turned around. What I saw was not what I expected and I was caught completely off guard.

Austin was already back on his feet and had a lupine in his arms and a pistol held to its head. The lupine was none other than Penny. She was struggling greatly trying to break free from Austin's grip.

"Don't do anything you'll regret Michelson!" He yelled, "I'll splatter her brains all over this fucking room!"

I simply looked at the two, worried and scared for Penny's life.

I tried to come up with something to do. I couldn't think of anything and didn't want to try anything. I could have gone into his mind and paralyzed him once more, but he would only get back up in seconds or pull the trigger as soon as he realized I was in his mind. He may not be able to use his telepathy, but he was still trained to know if he was being intruded upon.

I slowly raised my hands slightly, showing that I wasn't going to do anything.

"Come on you psychotic son of a bitch. Look at you… an extremely powerful being, cut down in mere seconds and stripped of your power by someone you thought you could handle." I said, trying to buy time for some miracle to happen.

I was honestly surprised myself. Just by reaching into his mind, I was able to save the two squads, strip Austin of his power temporarily, and cause him to fear for his life after he had caused so much death and loss before hand. His power was so grand, and yet I was able to completely negate all of it with a simple technique that the Council had created long ago.

Austin started to laugh manically, "You really think I'm powerless. You only crippled me temporarily! My power is beyond anything you can imagine!" He yelled, still with the gun at Penny's head.

"You are a power hungry coward! You hid behind the wall of your power! You are weak, you can't fight against me, and you can only defend and cause damage from afar!" I yelled, "The power you had took you over and made you its puppt." I paused, "and I will be the one to put you out of your misery, just as I did before."

Austin only laughed.

"Good god" I said as he did this. I sensed the miracle coming up from the hallway across from the bridge entrance, "such power, and yet you couldn't sense… well…" I paused and looked over, "…that" Delta and Foxtrot came sprinting in and stopped at the entrance of the bridge.

Austin shot his head over. Jess stopped his sprint midway to the bridge entrance and fired at Austin. The bolts were aimed ever so carefully and hit Austin's hand, causing the pistol to fly from it and allowing Penny to break free. As she did so, I sprinted forward towards Austin with my fists ready to meet his face.

"PENNY GET BACK WITH THE OTHERS!" I yelled as I sprinted across towards Austin, whom had stumbled from the pain of the bolt hitting him.

Penny did so and the two squads watched as I ran for Austin.

Jess was quick and ran up beside the others, "Don't shoot!" He yelled as the others were about to open fire on the exposed Cerinian in front of them.

I had made it to Austin and landed a clean side hook to his face.

Jess smiled, "Kevin's got this" he said, "Come on, we need to get Penny back to Great Fox!"

Austin swung back at me, but I dodged it and landed a clean jab at his gut, "Go" I said, "I can handle this fucker!"

The two squads then began to retreat back to their ships while I stayed and fought with Austin.

"Come on you pathetic Cerninan" I said as I easily dodged and deflected every strike he swung at me, "Is this all you got? Is this the power you said you had?!"

I deflected his right hook and landed several more jabs to his gut before finishing with a clean upper cut and a spin swipe at his feet.

Austin fell to the ground. He caught himself and lifted himself up slightly with arms propped up under him. He coughed several times, large amounts of blood spewing out with each one.

I was breathing heavily as the anger and blood lust overcame me, "The immensely powerful and all mighty Austin, cut down by a mere human."

He coughed several more times, "No…" he said, "… that's not how it works."

Suddenly, I felt an immense amount of pain in my head. I dropped to my knees as I felt my mind burn with the sensation of fire. I screamed in pain as Austin slowly got back up to his feet, looking at me with the same look he gave me when he had captured me the first time. The pain was so intense, I couldn't stop it regardless and I wasn't able to focus my essence to block him out.

"You say my power made me cocky." Austin said softly, "and yet you forgot that my crippled power was only temporary. I don't do damage from afar, I kill whatever is right in front of me without lifting a single finger. THAT is the extent of my power."

I tried to look up at Austin, but I couldn't. The pain was so intense I couldn't think and I couldn't do anything. I tried to hold back the screams from the immense pain, and even then I could hardly do that.

"You… disgusting… fuck" I managed to say.

"Oh" Austin said, "I like that…say it again. I love hearing when the one I'm defeating is angry. It makes me feel good; almost like it's my energy source."

I snarled and struggled to get up, but the pain was so much.

"HEY!" I heard another voice yell from my left. I tried to look over but couldn't tell who it was, "Why not fight someone your own size" I heard the feminine voice say.

"No..!" I thought to myself as I tried to look over.

Austin laughed and laughed, "Oh my, and here I was thinking you had been dead all these years."

I managed to look over slightly, only to see Krystal standing in the immense, open doorway with her staff ready.

"Enough…" she said, "I'm not going to fight you Austin."

"Kr…" I tried to speak, "krystal... don't do it!"

Austin raised an eyebrow, "Oh? What is it you're going to do then?"

"It's simple" she said. Suddenly, the immense pain I had felt had disappeared and Krystal screamed as she dropped to the floor. Whatever it was she had done, it cause Austin's power to fade from me.

"Krystal!" I yelled as I almost instantly shifted my body over to see her.

"KILL HIM!" She screamed as she squirmed and yelled from the pain.

I looked up at Austin and tackled him. Very quickly did I go into his mind, deep into his power and use the technique once more; this caused him to be crippled temporarily.

Krystal stopped yelling as the pain faded and she stayed on the floor with her hands on her head, trying to get the aftermath pain to fade as well.

"Now then" I said, "I'M FINISHING THIS!"

I clenched my fists and started to slam them into Austin's face over and over and over again. I let all of my energy loose and continued to hit the bastard until it started to deform from the broken bones and the blood splatting all over the place.

"DIE YOU SON OF A BITCH! DIEEE!" I yelled ferociously as I continued to slam my fists into his face. All of my hatred, all of my rage, all of my emotions being poured out to finally kill and to finally end what hell had been started.

I stopped after several minutes and looked at the monster in front of me. His face was bloodied and his skull bashed in so much you couldn't even recognize him; it was terrifying to look at, but I simply stared and felt relief overcome my senses. I was breathing heavily and looked down at my hands, they were drenched in blood and I could feel and see the blood that had splattered drip from my face. What was done had been done, Austin was dead and would stay dead.

"Let's see you come back from this one…" I said as I slowly began to breathe normally.

I looked back and saw my rifle on the ground a few feet away from me. I stood up from on top of Austin, walked over, and grabbed the rifle. I walked back over to the dead Cerinian and opened fire, letting lose the entire energy clip into the body, making sure that he was to never be revived and brought back to life. Whatever brought him back before will definitely not be doing so now.

I felt my emotions instantly fade, my anger became peace and my lust for blood vanished, replaced by my kind hearted nature that I'm so used to showing. It was kind of weird to feel my mind and emotions make such a sudden shift, but I couldn't care less about it; this war was done, Austin was dead, and I was able to make Beta Fox's death worth something more than just a futile effort to give us an escape from nothing.

I looked back and saw Krystal sitting up, her hands still on her head, trying to sooth the aftermath pains from Austin's telepathy.

"You okay?" I asked as I walked over to her, kneeling down to her.

She nodded once, "Yeah, I'm… I'm fine." She grunted in pain, "I didn't think that'd be so strong."

I looked back over at Austin's body, "What did you do to him? From what I saw it looked like you absorbed his mental path."

She smiled and chuckled, "Something I hope I don't have to use again. But yes, I grabbed onto his essence and forced it onto myself." She grunted again from the pain.

Raising my hand to her head, I closed my eyes and entered her mind. Since I had contact with her I had much more control and much more power to manipulate her head; with this I searched and found the lingering essence still within and causing her mild pain. Instantly, I eradicated the remnant essence and freed Krystal from her mild headache-like pain.

"Thanks" She said as she lowered her hand and smiled.

I simply chuckled, "I think I need to say thanks. You saved my life just now. I think I owe you some preeetty hefty favors in the future."

She chuckled and shook her head, "Of course not" she said with some sass in her voice, "In case you forgot, what I did was a favor for you saving me. So now we're even."

I smiled and slightly chuckled, "Yeah? Well good, cause I wasn't gonna do any favor too big, like carrying shopping bags or something." I teased as I helped Krystal to her feet.

"Oh hush now, I won't be the one asking you to do that." She mused back at me.

I raised my arm to activate my holo comms device, "Fox…" I said with a pause to catch my breath, "…this is Kevin." I cleared my throat and took a deep breath, "This fight is over.."

Fox let out a massive sigh of relief, "Holy shit Kev" he said through his sigh, "is he really dead this time?"

I looked back at the body of the Cerinian and then back forward, "Yeah, I'm pretty sure he won't be coming back."

"Jesus what did you do to him?" Fox asked with concern in his voice.

I cleared my throat once more, "Let's just leave it at this, Foxy, MICHELSON didn't kill Austin, Michelson's ANGER, killed him."

"Huh?" Fox said before getting it, "…oh… soooo I'm assuming you didn't stop when he was already dead…"

I smiled, "Anything to keep this fucker gone."

"You have no idea what you've done just now Kevin. You stopped an insane maniac from pretty much killing us." He said, "Get back to Great Fox so we can te-…" he said before stopping dead in his tracks, "… oh yeah"

Krystal and I laughed, "Ah Fox, a bit used to working for the money, aren't ya?" I shook my head with a huge smile on my face, "Krystal and I are on our way back now."

And with that, the small, unknown war had ended. The war between who had the stronger will and the stronger spirit. The war that was the true danger, which had been the true challenge and the worst I have ever faced. It came at the most dreadful cost, but it came to be what it had to be.

I always believed that everything happened for a purpose, regardless of what it was. If it happened, then it needed to happen and there was to be no other outcome beside that certain one. It didn't matter what you did before, it didn't matter how much you tried to do something else, if fate had an outcome, it was to happen and it was to happen for a good reason.

Star Fox was to happen. I had faced a rogue mercenary squad, defended my home planet, was controlled by a god, killed a god, destroyed a planet, escaped death countless times, defeated a power hungry Cerinian, and still never once felt regret. Fate had me where I needed.

This team is my life… all the way till the end.

**The End… to the Final Adventure…**

Finished. It's all done, it's all complete, all has been done, and it has been a ride.

This book, this story, this was the last piece written with my very first Universe I had created. The Crossed Paths universe has come to an end and the adventures of Kevin Michelson have ended on a strong note, defeating his biggest challenge and doing his job.

Thank you, everyone, for staying with me. Those who read my first book that I had EVER written (Crossed Paths) and those who came afterwards, I love you all.

Until next time everyone… in a new world and in a new universe…


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